Honor Bound
by JohnDowe
Summary: Katara shouted with anger and tears in her eyes. "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY LITTLE SISTER!" This is the story of a lost Water Tribe girl. On the day of their 4th birthday, Katara's twin sister was kidnapped by the Fire Nation. However with the Avatar's return, they'll soon learn that she's not only alive, but Prince Zuko's loyal bodyguard.
1. Prologue

The Otter Penguins waddled around trying desperately to escape the clutches of the bald kid who just suddenly arrived and trying to ride one of them. It was here Katara found Aang chasing around the peaceful animals who were just going about their day on their penguin business. Seeing these creatures brought back memories to Katara from her once happy childhood. She could hear the phantom giggles of her sister, the same giggles she used to hear when they played. How often her sister would play and dance with the penguins. They were her favorite animal.

She remembered how they often played among these snowy fields, running around and among the penguins. " _You no get me Katawa. You no get me._ " She would often mock her sister. However it was always easy to catch her. She always hid amongst the penguins.

" _Ha_. _I got you_." She would cheer as she tackled down her sister and they would both fall into the snow. They would just sit there and laugh. Two little girls laugh and throwing snow at each other without a care in the world.

Once happy memories that now only filled her with sorrow. She wanted to quickly find Aang and leave not wanting those memories to surface anymore. "Aang!" She called out.

She heard the boys laugh threw the crowd of penguins and soon spotted the boy giving chase to a couple. "Hey come on little guy. Wanna go sledding?" he said and then leapt forward trying to catch one. The penguin was to quick however and managed to escape before Aang could catch it and he just fell in the snow. He got back up laughing as Katara arrived. "I have a way with animals." He said and started imitating their squawk and waddle. She couldn't help but laugh at the boys cheery and light-hearted demeanor. She managed to smile and laugh but it quickly vanished at the memory of _her_. _She_ used to do the same thing. She would waddle around and squawk like the penguins, sometimes claiming that she was a penguin in disguise and that she was just spying on the water tribe so that her penguin family could raid the village for fish, and then ultimately demolish their government and install a Penguin Monarchy with her as the _Supreme-Penguin-Chancellor-Supreme_. That always made everyone laugh.

As she was reminiscing in the past Aang was being dragged around by a penguin while he held onto the stubborn animals tail. Not wanting to give up Aang stood back up and sought to find another potential victim, when he spotted one of the animals in distress. "Hey Katara." He called, pointing out the animals in question. Katara looked up seeing the penguin with red dye smeared on its chest harassing the other penguin with blue dye on her face.

"Hey!" Katara called out the to the penguin in question. "Leave her alone _Fire Nation_ , shoo!" She called as she ran toward them and trying to get the animal to go away. "Shoo _Fire Nation_. Get out of here!" After her second warning, the culprit finally retreated away and jumped into the water. Katara stayed by the victim penguin as it sat there not minding about anything that just happened. "Hey there _Water Tribe_." She said not having seen the penguin in years. They were usually her sisters favorite. She stopped visiting after her disappearance.

" _Fire Nation_? _Water Tribe_?" Aang asked as he approached, with innocent curiosity.

"Yeah. Thats what she named them." Katara replied feeling the sorrow in her heart grow larger. As _Water Tribe_ waddled away, Katara saw where she once stood was a small bush with snow flowers. She bent down and picked a flower in memory. She used to love picking flowers.

"She?" Aang asked.

"My twin sister. Lori." Katara answered.

"Oh. I didn't know you had a twin sister. Where is she? I'd love to meet her." Aang said with such innocence and optimism. She gave a sad smile, she thinks the two of them would've become great friends, had she got to meet him.

"Lori... was taken. Ten years ago. She's dead." She saw the happy expression on his face quickly turn to sadness. It almost hurt more seeing him so sad. She pulled the flower close to her heart feelign the painful memory resurface. "We didn't even know. The Fire Nation came and took her away. It was our fourth birthday." She shared with tears building in her eyes.

Aang walked up and hugged the girl wanting to console her after sharing something so painful. "I'm so sorry Katara. I didn't know."

For the first time in a long time she cried. Katara wrapped her arms around her friend and buried her face into his shoulder. She let the tears fall, as she relived the day her father came home without her other half and broke the news that completely shattered her world. She prayed to the spirits day and night, prayed that she could see her sister again.


	2. The South Pole

In a cold winter afternoon a small Fire Nation cruiser, belonging to the banished Prince of the Fire Nation sailed through the freezing waters of the South Pole. All was silent, except for the sound of the sailing ships engines and General Iroh who hummed a toon while playing his tile game. Zuko stood at the forefront of the ships main deck his loyal bodyguard standing at attention with her arms behind her back, and by the prince's side now as she'd always been since their journey first began. Together they had traveled nearly every corner of the globe, but had never found any sign of their prey.

As General Iroh placed down another tile, a bright light shot up into the sky far in the distance. Prince Zuko starred at the great light with such astonishment. "Finally." He states with such confidence, knowing full well what the source of the light could be. "Uncle do you realize what this means?"

"I won't get to finish my game?" Iroh states not caring about the light, finding his tile game more interesting.

"It means, my search is about to come to an end." Zuko states turning back to the light.

Lori kept her eyes on the great light as it slowly began to fade away. "That light, it would have had to have come from some incredible powerful source. There's nothing in the world that could have such power." She said, feeling the sense wonder washing over.

"It has to be him." Zuko finalized. This had been nearly three years in the making.

Iroh simply focused on his game, trying to determine the best course of action and what the wisest move to make was. "Or its just the celestial light. We've been down this road before Prince Zuko. I don't want you to get too excited over nothing." He took the air tile and placed it over the fire tile, hopping that this was indeed the wise decision. "Please sit. Why don't you two enjoy a cup of calming Jasmine Tea."

Zuko whipped around and shouted at his Uncle for his defiance. "I DON'T NEED ANY CALMING TEA! I NEED TO CAPTURE THE AVATAR!" He shouted before turning back to where the light. He turned to his bodyguard who responded to his look to her with a nod and then turned back to the crew.

"Helmsman! Head a course for the light!" She gave the order.

As they continue to sail Zuko's enthusiasm seemed short lived as the day turned into dusk and then day again without any other sign of the Avatar. She was beginning to believe the bright light they saw the day before might have been nothing more then the celestial light as General Iroh stated. But she would never admit that to him. Even if short lived, the prince's enthusiasm felt like a breath of fresh air to her. Seeing the young prince once again with eyes filled with such determination was almost inspiring. A look she hadn't seen in a long time.

Together they watched as the scenery past by them seeing nothing but the same thing they saw for days. Glaciers and water. She wanted to tell him they should start searching else where, that perhaps this was yet another dead end, but she didn't have the heart to see his dream crushed. She hoped deep down that Zuko's suspicions were correct.

"Does anything look familiar to you?" Zuko asked his bodyguard. "Are their no cities, no landmarks?"

Just as the last couple days, the only thing they could see was just ice, snow, and the water keeping them afloat. "Not that I can recall. It has been ten years after all." She simply replied. "Besides, the Southern Water Tribe is nothing more then just a bunch of small, scattered villages."

"So-" Zuko continued his train of thought. "No cities, no formal government-"

"No military."

"So no resistance." Zuko finalized getting an eyebrow raise from his bodyguard.

"You don't plan on actually attacking these people do you?" She asked. They were all aware of the fact that most, if not all the men of the South had joined the Earth Kingdom in the war, nearly six years ago. There wouldn't be any resistance since there was no one to oppose them. "There would only be elders, woman and children. And I highly doubt any of them can fight."

Zuko was about to make a reply until they heard a loud whistle and then a bright flash. The two turned to the flash in the distance just as it was slowly falling. Zuko recognized it as a Fire Nation emergency flare and immediately ran to the telescope and searched for the source of the phenomenon in the far distance. The flares slowly descended from what appeared to be the wreckage of an old Fire Nation vessel. Suddenly he saw two figures appeared from the ship, seemingly leaping off the ship and down to the snow without fault. That could only be one possibility for preforming such feats.

"There he is. The last Airbender." Zuko finally spoke. "Quite agile for his age." He commented before turning away from contraption and to the men standing by. "Wake my Uncle! Tell him I found the Avatar!" He ordered with the kind of bravado she hadn't heard in years.

Peering through the scope she spotted the two figures, from their distance it was hard to tell exactly who or what they were, but their attire definitely proved at least one of them was the Airbender. Another, wearing a blue parka was without a doubt water tribe. She turned the scope in the direction they were running toward and thats when she spotted the familiar sight of a village. Her eyes widened only for a second as memories of the old town resurfaced, but then they returned to normal as the flashes past. "As well as his hiding place." She finally said. She stepped back and stood at attention letting the prince see the village in the distance through the telescope. That would be their next destination.

Zuko stood tall with a look of determination, ready for this mission to finally be over with. Watching as the village in the distance gradually grew closer Zuko spoke to his bodyguard, not looking at her but eyes and posture still toward his goal. "Are you ready to go home?" He asked.

"Are you?" She replied. The two shared a look of determination which turned into smirks. No words had to be were exchanged as they shared the same thoughts.

* * *

With the ship approaching their target, it was time to prepare for any kind of resistance. While Zuko prepared his royal armor, she returned to her quarters and began to prepare as well, dropping her coat and standing before the armor stand. After disrobing and putting on her usual light grey under shirt and black pants she threw on her robes. The robes were black with bright white trim, the lower portion layered with the back dropping to her calves while the front reached her knees. The sleeves reached just barely past her wrist where she tightened the string to keep them restrained, her left sleeve was adorned with steel armor plates on her upper arm and her forearm. The right sleeve lacked the armor. She then wrapped the red sash with her throwing knife belt around her waist tighten the robes to her waist and buckled the leather breast plates.

The robes themselves were thicker then normal robes adding a layer protection and lined with a fireproof material. The robes were adorned with black leather armor made from the strongest hide, courtesy of the strongest Komodo Rhinos in the Fire Nation. She then wore the similar black leather pauldron on her right shoulder, securing it tightly and then buckled the two leather straps across her back, securing them with buckles as well. Each strap carrying her scabbards for her weapons.

She strapped on her metal greaves, her left boot held three hidden throwing knives while her right boot had a small punching dagger, for emergencies only. She never needed it, but it was always there just in case.

Her weapons were here pride and joy. Being trained by some of the best masters as well as Zuko, she was well versed in combat. Her duel dao swords were strapped across her back, their hilts sat over her left shoulder while her twin daggers hung over her right shoulder. Her daggers were her specialty, made from the finest Damascus steel in the Fire Nation, as a gift from Prince Zuko himself. She took her vertical crossbow, clicking the small action to extend the four arms readying the weapon for use. She lifted it with her one hand, using the thin space between the two top arms as a sight. She enjoyed using this ranged weapon, although she rarely had a use for it, preferring to be up close and personal with her blades. She collapsed the arms and then sheathed the weapon on her back just above her waist.

Finally came her gauntlet. The combined ceastus and vamebracer with its almost wicked appearance was her signature, with the plates made from reinforced iron, fully protecting her right and forearm in the grasp of death. A single blow with this could down a grown man as she's done several times. Underneath was a small sheath with a built in mechanism That could also fire her throwing knives at much farther distances then she could throw, as well as the ability to extend and retract the blades for delivering death quickly and discretely up close. But above all were the claws at the end of her finger tips, sharpened and fine like blades, and able to tear skin clean, from bellies to throats, truly wicked tool of death. She starred at her gauntlet as she slipped over her burned and bandage covered right hand and fastened it tightly, trying to hide her ugliness with this tool of destruction.

Finally prepared for war, she exited her quarters and made her way to join Prince Zuko and the other men to finally finish the journey.

* * *

The ships hull had already broke through the ice, sitting on the wall of the village, now they were just waiting for the giant hatch to open. She stood beside Zuko, starring at the wolf mask in her hands. She could feel her heart racing in her chest with anticipation. It had been ten years since she was last in the Southern Water Tribe She couldn't even begin to imagine how much had changed. She didn't even want to think about how much she had changed since she was last here. As quickly as they came, she just as quickly cleared those thoughts from her head, right now she had to focus on the goal. She looked up to the Prince who stood at the front. "Are you ready?" She asked.

"Are you?" He replied. The thoughts raced in her mind about this moment. The possible reunion that would never come, even as she set foot in her old home. She said nothing, merely putting on and fastening her owl mask.

As the ramp dropped and crashed into the snow they all marched forward down the ramp and into the village. They only made it half way when a water tribe teenager with warrior paint charged at them with a club delivering a war cry. She nearly scoffed at the pathetic display, she needn't bother to try and stop him. The prince merely kicked away his club and then kicked him over the ramp sending the wannabe warrior into the snow. Upon arriving before the crowd of frightened villagers, the first person she noticed was the teenage girl, holding an elderly woman, her grandmother. _'It couldn't be'._ She thought to herself. She couldn't help but notice how similar she looked to herself, even Zuko noticed the striking resemblance by the slight turn of his head toward her, as though asking the question ' _Is that her?_ ' She still said nothing, only looking ahead.

As their party finally came to a halt, Zuko stood forward scanning the frightened crowd of woman and children, the girl keeping her grandmother in a protective hold. "Where are you hiding him!" Zuko demanded. The children, frightened by him all took a step back out of fear. No one gave a reply to his demand. Growing ever impatient Zuko reached forward and pulled the elderly woman from the crowd. The girl's eyes widening with fear just as her own had. "He'd be about this age! Master of all elements!" He emphasized but still no one understood, all with looks of question. Finally fed up with this nonsense Zuko shoved her elder back into the crowd, the girl carefully taking her and looking at Zuko with anger. Angry as well, Zuko shot a wide spread of fire above the crowd, the children crying as the fire flew over them. It harmed no one, but it did it work in scaring them. "I know your hiding him!" He shouted.

Another shout was heard from behind as the boy warrior had recovered and tried his attack once again. Charging at Zuko at fully speed, Zuko only had to duck out of the way at the last minute, the boys own momentum sending him in the air and finally crashing in the snow yet again. Zuko shot fire at him, but the boy warrior was surprisingly faster rolling out of the way and throwing a boomerang which Zuko narrowly dodged. The boomerang, she only knew one person who used such a weapon. _'Could it be?'_ She thought to herself. The boy was much older then she remembered, taller, stronger, but a warrior, not so much.

"Show no fear." A little boy cried out as he tossed the older boy a spear which he caught and then used to charge at them once again. This time being more so of a threat, she stepped in. Fast as lightening, the boy didn't see her as she lunged forward unsheathing her swords, and slicing the spear into three's. He nearly faltered from the sudden attack, his eyes wide with fear from her sudden intervention. As the bits of spear flew in the air, Zuko seemingly caught the longest stem and poked the boy in the head three times until he finally collapsed.

The boys eyes were widened with fear but widened even more so with what she believed to be hope for a minute. She didn't forget about the boomerang which was fast approaching. She heard the wishing sound grow louder and louder and finally reached over and caught the rogue projectile only half an inch from the back of Zuko's head. Zuko smirked at her action as she took the weapon and the threw toward the boy slicing tiny bits of hair from his wolf tail, the look of potential hope no completely gone from his eyes. She remained indifferent.

Hoped seemed lost for the tribe until out of nowhere a bald boy came racing in on the back of a penguin, knocking over the two of them. She heard children cheer from excitement at the return of their hero. When the outsiders recovered from their attack their eyes were wide from the sight, Zuko's from seeing the airbender was merely a twelve year old boy, but hers from seeing a penguin, her favorite animal, for the first time in ten years, the urge to run up to it and hug it intensifying.

"Hey Sokka. Hey Katara." The boy said as though completely oblivious to the situation.

"Hi Aang. Thanks for coming." The boy, now Sokka said, now doubly confirming that the identities of the teenagers. They were in fact Katara and Sokka.

The boy stood defiantly as Zuko motioned for his men to surround the boy. She remained by his side as she always did. As the soldiers got closer, Aang swung his staff, using his airbending to bury them all in snow and then launched a similar attack toward them. She drove her swords into the ground keeping her in place, while Zuko managed on his own. The snow melting as he grew angrier. "Looking for me!" He said.

"Your the Airbender?" Zuko said in surprise, the realization finally coming to the rest of the crowd. "Your the Avatar!"

Both Zuko and Aang started circling each other each waiting for the other to make the first move. She stood to the side, knowing that this fight was between him and the Avatar. "I've spent years, preparing for this moment. Training, meditating, your just a child!" He stated.

Aang only raised in eye brow simply pointing out the fact. "Well your just a teenager."

Now more irate, Zuko began to fire shots at the airbender which he managed to block by spinning his staff, leaving him unscathed. However his defense didn't blow out the fire, it merely flew around him toward the very crowd he was trying to protect. The cries of horror is what finally made him realize that he wasn't doing enough. "If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?" He offered. She couldn't help but think of how noble that was. Willingly giving himself up to protect these strangers. The tension however remained thick every villager holding their breaths for what seemed like an eternity. All of them wondering if Zuko would take the offer. Wondering if he would go with the deal and not simply just burn down the village and kill everyone once the Avatar was locked up. She however knew Prince Zuko better then anyone. Then Zuko finally stood at ease and agreed to his terms, she knew he would honor that agreement.

Two soldiers approached Aang, one taking his staff and the other restraining him and soon they were returning to the ship. She sheathed her swords and turned around, waiting for Zuko and the rest to pass, and to make sure no one, mainly Sokka, didn't try and play hero. "No Aang, don't do this!" She heard Katara call out disheartened by Aang's sacrifice.

"Don't worry Katara. It'll be okay." Aang said, trying to calm his friend. "Take care of Appa for me until I get back." He said before they reached the ramp.

"Head a course to the Fire Nation. We're going home." She heard Zuko order from the top of the ramp. Before she climbed up the ramp, she noticed something she didn't notice before hand. A little flower basket with a small child-sized coat adorned with flower petals sat by the wall of the village. She approached and gently picked up one of the flowers, a snow flower she remembered. These were once her favorite flowers.

"HEY!" She heard a cry from behind as Katara stormed toward her preventing her from desecrating her dead sisters memorial. _Her_ memorial. Before Katara could enact her vengeance, she had a sword to her neck and fell back into the snow shocked from the fast, sudden reaction. She looked up at her, the girl with the owl mask, tears building in her eyes, and filled with both fear and malice. Fire Nation Scum! How dare this stranger desecrate her dead sisters memorial. However her hatred began to pass, being replaced with shock and confusion. Seeing through the slits of the owl mask, she realized that this Fire Nation scum wasn't Fire Nation at all. She had blue eyes. Deep blue eyes.

She merely sheathed her sword and climbed up the ramp leaving Katara confused. Zuko waited patiently for his bodyguard to return, having seen the whole scene, understanding what it all meant. "You don't want to say anything?" He asked her just as she arrived.

She said nothing for a while, thinking it all over. Once again imagining the reunion that she could never have. She took a deep breath. "It would be too painful." She said as they walked away and the ramp began to raise. It was done. They finally captured the Avatar. They were returning home.

* * *

Prince Zuko's ship was once again sailing through the cold waters, now with the Avatar in their hands all that was left was to return to the Fire Nation. "This staff will make an excellent gift for my father. I suppose you wouldn't know fathers. Being raised by monks." Zuko said, admiring the craftsmanship of such an ancient instrument. "Take the avatar to the prison hold." He order and then handed the staff to his uncle. "and take _this_ to my quarters."

As they turned to walk away, Lori felt a sudden rush to her head, the events of today taking a toll on her more then she initially believed. She reached up to touch her forehead feeling the sudden ache in her temple. "Are you okay?" Zuko asked his bodyguard, seeing the look of discomfort her face.

She rubbed her temple trying to massage the aching feeling away. "I'm fine. Just a bit light headed." She tried her best to brush off her his concerns. He had more important things to worry about, now that they had captured the Avatar. "No need to worry about me." She said.

"Maybe you should get some rest." He said, although she wanted to refuse. She believed she would be better suited in guarding the Avatar.

"I assure you Zuko, I'm fine. Maybe I should go..." She wanted to continue, but was cut off when he put his hand on her shoulder. That simple gesture was all that was need to be said between the two.

"I insist." Zuko calmly said, ending the conversation. After he removed his hand, she remained by him for a bit longer, feeling the ache in her head returning. She finally agreed to leave and rest, giving a slight bow to the prince and then turning to walk away.

After she left Zuko and entered the main halls of the ship, she managed to catch up to the guards who were escorting the Avatar to the brig. When the two guards saw her approaching, they both bowed. "Ma'am." One of the guards said. "We've got this taken care of."

She stopped before them and just stared at the boy in the hands of the guards. Despite the fact that he was now their prisoner and being delivered into the hands of the Fire Lord, he seemed rather calm. She wasn't sure if he was actually planning some way of escape, or if he was simply was just going with the flow and waiting for an opening. Her eyes narrowed at the monk from the possible scenarios that could take place. He was the first Airbender to resurface in a hundred years. There was no telling what he could do. "Just make sure to stay vigilant and don't EVER let your guard down! He's a wild card, and I DON'T like wild cards! Even if he is just a child." She said.

"Well your just a teen-" He started but was startled when she sprung a blade from her wrist and held it at his neck. He screamed from the hostility. "AHH! Sorry! Shutting up now!" He quickly said cowering behind one of the guards. Since she had made her point, she pulled back and retracted the blade, her eyes still narrowed on the boy.

"Carry on." She ordered.

"Yes Ma'am." The guards said and bowed once more before leaving.

After finally returning to her cabin, she began to remove her scabbards and crossbow and placing them on the weapon rack. She took a seat on her bed and reached back and untied her owl mask. Starring at the mask, she couldn't stop imagining the look Katara gave before she left. That look of anger and pain, slowly being turned into her horror. _Did she recognize me?_ She thought to herself. What could she be possibly imagining right at this moment. Remembering how Katara's expression changed as though realization had struck her. After hanging her mask back on the wall, she proceeded to lie down on her bed without removing the rest of her armor. She was to tired to care. Questions started pouring into her head, all sorts of questions relating to what had just happened in the village, suddenly feeling the overwhelming sense of sadness. What would her father think? What would her mother think? Would they have been happy to see her again after so long? Did they even miss her? Did they even remember her? Did they even care? She looked for her answers in the dark ceiling of her cabin. Disheartened that her questions would go unanswered, she finally closed her eyes wanting to get some rest, and wanting nothing more then to return home.

She closed her eyes waiting for sleep to come, but it never came. She could't rest with all the questions racing through her mind, and all the possibilities that were now swarming her mind with regards to the Avatar. How would the Fire Lord react once they arrived in the Fire Nation with their prize. Would he truly restore Prince Zuko's honor and his birthright as the heir to the throne. Would he finally respect _her_ for her part in the Avatars capture. Fire Lord Ozai never liked her. She tried her best to purge these invading thoughts with some shut eye, but sleep continued to elude her.

She sat from her bed when she heard sounds coming from the hall way. When she approached the door she heard the sound of men grunting followed by a thud as though they had fallen. She then heard the sound of light footsteps like someone running and running fast, but lacked the loud sound of metal boots clanking against the metal floor. It wasn't a guard. Whoever was running was getting closer and closer and no doubt he was coming her way. She quickly retrieved her swords and returned to the door waiting for just the right moment. She pulled the door open and swung her swords out seeing the fast orange and yellow figure duck under them just barely. She spun and around and readied in a fighting stance. Just as she suspected, the Avatar.

After Aang narrowly dodged the swords he nearly crashed into the wall but managed to save himself. He was ready to run down the hall when she heard her shout. "Rabbit!" He turned around to see who it was who nearly cut his head off. His eyes widened in shock as he came face to face with Katara. Only it wasn't Katara, there were some differences with this girls appearance. The name that Katara told him finally came to mind and he was overwhelmed with fear and horror at the quick realization of who this was.

"Lori?" He asked just to confirm his suspicions.

Lori's eyes widened with surprise. How did he know her name. Nobody knew her name. His knowledge of her identity angered her and she growled with anger as she charged at him swinging her swords. Aang screamed as she attacked him dodging and ducking and jumping out of the way as she continued to swing her blades at him. Lori swung her sword and spun around using the momentum to bring her sword back around and thrust it forward. The blade nearly made contact but Aang, afraid for his life, blew an incredible gust of wind launching her down the hallway. "I'm sorry!" Was the last thing Lori heard before crashing into the wall and blacking out.

When she finally came to her head was throbbing from pain, her vision was blurry, she felt dizzy and she found it challenging to stand back up. She reached up to grab her head only to feel a the pain spike as she accidentally touched the bump on her temple. Before she knew it she was being lifted up by the arms. Once her vision cleared up she saw it was two guards who were helping her up. When she finally got control of her feet again and maintain her balance she yanked her arms away from the guards. "Get off me!" She ordered and the guards backed off per her request. She still felt a bit light headed but she suffered through it if only to get topside. _Those idiots!_ She thought to herself, referring to the guards who let the Avatar escape.

As she rounded a corner she felt the ship rumble as though they were hit by something. She quickly braced herself against the wall, quickly feeling the dizziness once again and being distracted by black spots. "What the hell is going?!" She shouted to herself as the dizziness grew grew worse she felt the urge to lie down to rest, until it passed. Ignoring her bodies pleas she stood back up and ran until she finally made outside. When she opened the door. The bright light from outside along with her ever growing condition, left her blinded momentarily forcing her to cover her eyes and brace herself against the doorway.

Katara was already waiting in Appa's saddle when she spotted the door swing open. Her eyes widened when she saw it was her. Zuko's bodyguard. However perhaps luck was on their side or the sun was shining considerably brighter today, because the bodyguard was seemed out of it. Clutching her head, hiding her face, from discomfort. Katara couldn't see her face. "YIP YIP! YIP YIP!" Sokka called out as he climbed up Appa's tail and the flying bison took off the deck of the ship.

"SHOOT THEM DOWN!" Zuko shouted. He along with his uncle worked together to fire an enormous fire ball toward the fleeing target.

Sokka and Katara watched in horror as the fire ball was flying toward them worrying that their rescue attempt was all for naught. Aang leapt to the rescue using his staff to launch a great gust of wind toward the oncoming fire ball and repel it toward the glacier wall. The impact caused a minor avalanche burying the forward bow of the ship, securing their escape.

By this time Lori recovered well enough to finally get moving again but by then the Avatar and the Bison were in the air, flying away. "Is that thing, flying?" She questioned as she approached the prince.

"Good news for the Fire Lord." She heard the General say as she slowly approached the two. "The Fire Nation's greatest threat, is just a little kid." That angered Lori even more. The Avatar was just a child, younger then even her, and yet she let him slip through her grasp.

"That _kid_ uncle, just did this." Her eyes turned to the forward bow, which was now buried in snow and ice. Her fists clenched as the anger swelled. Where ever those guards were, she was gonna make them pay for letting him escape. "I won't underestimate him again. Dig this ship out and follow them!" Zuko ordered his men who were currently trying to free the shipmates from their ice prison. "As soon as your done with that."

Lori saw the frozen guards which raised numerous questions. There were no water benders left in the South Pole. They were all taken away by the Fire Nation raids. Conducted by the Southern Raiders if her memory was correct. However that was long before she was born. She figured to answer her question, she would need to ask the following witness who were on deck. "What the hell happened here? Who did this."

Zuko turned around when he heard her voice. "Your sister." He answered almost with an accusing voice. She turned back to him with wide eyes. "Why didn't you tell me she was a water bender?"


	3. My Sister

"Lori used to love flowers."

* * *

 **Ten Years Ago**

 _She always used to venture out into the wild to gather flowers for her family. And today of all days was a very special day only meant for the best flowers. She knew where the prettiest flowers grew, and those were the flowers most special to her. Only a short ten minute walk from the village, she would travel to the eastern cliffs, where the otter penguins had been known to congregate. Not wanting to disturb her animal friends, she gently walked past them letting them waddle around and leave them to their penguin business._

 _"Excuse me Mistew Penguin." She said politely as she let another otter penguin waddle past her. She adored her penguin friends. She sometimes wished she could call these peaceful creatures her brother and sister and live among them with their fellow penguin kind. As she walked past the waddle of penguins she spotted the infamous trouble-maker with the the red dye smeared on its chest, smacking another penguin with its head. She quickly rushed over and stopped him from harassing his fellow penguins, pushing him away from the others. "No. Bad Fie Nation. Bad, bad Fie Nation!" She remarked pushing it away. The penguin quickly retreated and waddled away. Lori tended to the penguin with the blue dye on her face, giving her a hug. "It okay, watew twibe. It okay. He just a meany."_

 _Finally reaching the very edge of the cliff she peered down to see where two bundles of snow flowers were ready for the taking. Having done this several times before, she knew exactly how to climb down the ice wall to reach the ledge just a foot above the water. She was careful, knowing where to put her feet and her hands, slowly taking her time to climb down until she landed safely. Her deep blue eyes widened at the site of the beautiful white snow fowers, they would be perfect, she believed, and finally picked up her prize, six snow flowers. She was just about to stuff them in her coat and ready to climb back up when she spotted a canoe floating by with two familiar men with spears. "Ello Bato! Ello Sinjin." She called out to the family friends._

 _The two men, Bato and Sinjin turned around lowering their spears when they spotted the familiar child and smiled. "Hey there kiddo." Sinjin called_

 _"Hello Lori. What are you doing all the way out here?" Bato asked._

 _Lori lifted her prize and called back. "I have flows for Mommy and Daddy!"_

 _Bato laughed and rowed his canoe over to her, ready to head back home with todays catch. He figured he would save Lori the journey back and offered her a ride. "Climb on, we're getting ready to head back home anyway." He said. Lori readied herself and hopped off her little island and was caught by Bato who gently lowered her into the canoe. Lori took a seat at the front of the canoe taking in the fowl smell of Bato's fish. She touched their slimy scales and squealed._

 _"Ew! Smelly." She said making Bato laugh._

 _"Yeah, they don't smell good, but they do taste good." Bato said._

 _"Not the way you make them." Sinjin added winking at Lori and getting bonked on the head with Bato's oar. Lori giggled._

 _After the short journey, they arrived back to the village where the rest of the tribe were busy doing their own work. The woman were attending to the house work, the children played and the men had just arrived with their latest bounties from their hunting trips. Bato docked the canoe and tied it down as Lori hopped off ready to run home to her family. She gave Bato one of the flowers to thank him for the boat ride. "Thank you Bato. You can give to Lulu." She said for him to give the flower to his wife._

 _"What, I'm not good enough to have a flower." He jokingly remarked making Lori giggle._

 _"And what, no flower for me?" Sinjin said, jokingly._

 _"Nope." Lori responded and giggled. Sinjin stuck his tongue out at her and then she stuck her tongue out at him in retaliation. Sinjin then quickly leapt forward and picked up the child who squealed and started laughing. Sinjin lifted her up and placed her on his shoulders as they walked through the village._

 _"You're such a pain in the butt." Sinjin said._

 _"No. You pain in da butt." Lori said and giggled._

 _Sinjin laughed and continued walked through the village. Lori always liked Sinjin. As her fathers Second Man he often visited and spent time with the family. He was a nice man, funny, and a handsome young man, as her grandmother has said before. Gran Gran adored him, the girls swooned over him and Sokka idolized him. Her brother wanted to be a strong warrior just like him when he got older._

 _Walking through the village, they passed by the other villagers who went along their daily business as they did everyday. They would all look up to see the duo with smiles and gave their hellos. They walked by Auntie Ashuna's hut who kindly handed Lori a small basket of snowberries for her mother and some blubbered seal jerky for Hakoda and Sokka. Lori sniffed the tasty looking snowberries and thanked the kind woman. They soon walked away, she soon noticed how the some of the older girls would smile and stare at Sinjin as he walked away. With some girls he would smile and wink at them, they would giggle as they walked by. Finally they arrived at the largest hut of the village where her grandmother was waiting for her outside._

 _"Gwan-Gwan!" Lori called out as Sinjin arrived and put her down on the ground and she ran into her grandmothers hug._

 _"Hello Lori. Your back so soon."_

 _"Gwan-Gwan, I have flows." She said lifting pulling them out of her coat._

 _"Well, aren't they just lovely." She said. "Hello Sinjin. Thank you for bringing back my grand daughter."_

 _"Hello Kanna." He greeted kindly._

 _"Bye Sinjin. Gwan-Gwan, come." Lori said as she grabbed her grandmothers hand and pulled her toward the hut. Kanna said her good-bye to the young man before he left, but not before noticing his usual easy-going demeanor and smile disappear from his face leaving a look of remorse and worry as he quickly walked away. She worried what the young man was up to but the feeling past when they entered their home. The rest of the family was already waiting inside, getting ready for dinner when they walked in._

 _"Everyone, Lori has something for us."_

 _"Hey there sweetie." Kya, her mother said as they all approached. "What you got there?"_

 _Lori pulled the five remaining flowers and spoke in a loud whisper. "I have flows." She said and then started handing them out to each member of her family. "One for Gwan-Gwan. One for daddy. One for mommy. One for Sokka." She then turned to her older sister who waited with much anticipation. "And one for the bestest, best, best, big sistew in da whole wold, Katawa." She said and gave her big sister the prettiest flower of the bunch. Katara squealed and gave her little a sister a big hug._

 _"Thank you Lori. Its super pretty." Katara said._

 _Kya and Hakoda both laughed as their daughters hugged and joyed over the flowers. Sokka was a bit annoyed, saying that flowers were for girls. That got him a shove from Katara for being harsh. After Kya had settled them down she began to prepare the table. Lori then handed her the snowberries which she minded could be good for a pie. Lori then gave her father Aunt Ashuna's blubbered seal jerky which granted him a grimaced smile and then proceeded to toss said snack into the fire. The fire smell good which only made the children more hungry. Soon enough however, Kya called everyone to the table to get ready for supper. "Yeah Stewed Sea Prunes!" Katara yelped ready to eat._

 _"Hold on children." Kya stopped before her children could begin eating. "Because today is a special day, Gran-Gran and I also prepared something special." She said pulling out a bowl with the surprise steaming meal. Fried rice and cooked arctic camel meat, a very special dish which brought great surprise to the children. To celebrate Katara and Lori's fourth birthday._

 _"NO WAY!" The twin girls cried out in disbelief. Seeing the steaming hot food laid before them. They almost never had anything this extravagant. Kya walked over to her two girls and gave them both kisses. "Happy birthday you two." She said squeezing them both in hugs._

 _Sokka was quick to point that out. "How come we never had this on my birthday?"_

 _His mother just rolled her eyes at her sons annoyance. She just simply sipped her tea and remained silent. Her husband however came to the rescue. "Sokka, as you remembered we did get you that boomerang for your birthday, and we agreed to let Sinjin handle your warrior training." Hakoda said which seemed to calm down his son a bit, but only a bit. They remembered that birthday mostly because of how Lori reacted from hearing the news. When she first learned about his training with Sinjin she cried and ran to hug him. She thought with the him training he was going to go off fight in the war and she didn't want her big brother to go fight the mean old Fire Nation. It took half an hour to explain to her that he wasn't gonna go off to war anytime soon._

 _Sokka just huffed, silently ceasing the argument while taking his serving of the meal. "Yeah, I guess. I like my boomerang." He mumbled. He was grumpy until he took a bite of the delicious arctic camel meat and his whole mood changed as he ate the savory meat. He moaned from the flavor making everyone laugh. He liked food._

 _The family ate their special meal together as they did just about everyday. They were all thankful they managed to acquire such delicacies from trading with the other villages of the South Pole. The South Pole may have split up into different villages since the day of the raids but Hakoda, as chief, still managed to keep the villages in good relation with each other. And trading with one another always strengthened those relations. He had planned to one day bring all the leaders of the villages together and have talks about once again uniting the South Pole. However seeing the way his own children behaved he knew it would be while till that came to fruition._

 _He watched as Sokka reached over and took a piece of meat from Lori's bowl. Lori turned to her older brother in shock from his betrayal, and looked as though she was ready to cry. Katara however, as the protective older sister, comforted her and soothed her down before seeking vengeance. She stood up and pushed Sokka over while Lori reached over and snatched two pieces of meat from his bowl. "Children behave." Kya said nonchalantly. Once Katara retreated and sat back down Lori handed her one piece of camel meat that she snatched from Sokka. The two girls giggled as they chowed down on their pilfered meat._

 _Hakoda just nodded and chuckled from the display. His two daughters were as thick as thieves. They were twins after all. Not many people believed that, being fraternal twins, but they were twins non-the-less, with only subtle similarities. Katara was only born twenty-three minutes before Lori, but she was still always protective of her. Lori loved her older sister and could always depend on her when she needed her. The two girls were practically inseparable._

 _As the next hour went by and their supper nearly finished, Lori recounted her time with the otter penguins to her family, yet again. If it wasn't flowers, or something Sokka did, Lori only ever talked about were the penguins. Hakoda had to reminded her as he'd done before to be careful when around the cliffs. "Lori I've told you before to be careful and stay safe, it could be dangerous."_

 _"But daddy, the penguins my fwends. They love me." She said._

 _"Why do you like penguins?" Sokka said. "They're dumb." he said which made Lori mad. Nothing made her angrier then when someone insulted her animal friends._

 _"Noooo. Penguins my fwiends! And they the bestest, best, best in the whole wold." She argued._

 _"Sokka don't be mean to your sister." Kya said._

 _It was then Bato walked in and addressed Hakoda about a matter outside. Some members from another village from the west had arrived moments ago. The only thing Lori had heard was that there were visitors in the village and so she grabbed her coat which was adorned with flower petals and raced to grab her flower basket. It was her self proclaimed duty to give every visitor a flower as a sign of welcoming them to their village. However when she reached her room, she discovered she had no flowers left. Her little heart broke, feeling shamed for not being able to give the visitors a proper welcome. Feeling as though she failed her civic duty, her village, her family and the Southern Water Tribe, the Water Tribe in its entirety, she stepped out to give the visitors a formal apology for being such a terrible host. She stepped outside and saw her father speaking to the visitors._

 _"Now settle down. There won't be a problem." Hakoda said trying to diffuse some sort of situation._

 _"Calm down!? Hakoda, theres a storm coming, and we depend on trading with your village for food to survive. With the storm we won't be able to making the journey..."_

 _Lori heard them argue waiting patiently for the opportunity to step in and apologize for her terrible treatment of their guests. Sinjin walked over spotting the upset child standing awkwardly to the side while the adults argued. "Hey there kiddo. Feeling down?" he asked._

 _"I have no flows." She said sadly. "It wude not to give flows to new fwends." She pointed to the visitors talking to her father. She looked to Sinjin who seemed nervous, almost jumpy then from when she last saw him. She however thought he should be. He should know how important giving flowers to people was to her. It was her civic duty as a born and bred member of the Southern Water Tribe to do so. He saw her pouty little face and an idea came to him. The only way to save the village from the current danger._

 _"Hey kiddo." He bent down to get closer to her. "I think I know a place to find some. Some very special flowers." Her face lit up with hope at his suggestion. "It would be quick, there and back, ten minutes tops. No one would even notice."_

 _The smile on her face grew wide as she hugged him and thanked him over and over again. Before they could leave Lori wanted to tell her dad about their plan, but Sinjin disagreed, saying that it would ruin the surprise. Better to keep it quiet until then. As her fathers second, she trusted his wisdom and took off in direction to the north with incredible speed. After a second he took off after her. He knew how important of giving out flowers was to her. It was a matter of life and death and she would feel shame for dishonoring her duty, so he knew it was easy to use her._

 _Nearly fifteen minutes passed since Hakoda's surprise visit from the other village. Upon returning home he noticed that his youngest daughter was not present. After asking his wife, she told him that she went after him when he stepped outside. After a quick scan of the village they couldn't see the familiar little girl. He spotted Bato, one of his close personal friends, asking if he'd seen her._

 _"I did actually. She went Northward outside the village, followed by Sinjin." He told him which only raised more questions. "I'd assumed you were aware. I figured they went to go get more flowers, it seemed Lori's flower stand was running low." He pointed toward the little snow mound and basket which served as Lori's flower stand. Everyone knew about it, including the other villages. They adored her._

 _Hakoda only sighed wondering why they didn't tell him where they were headed, but didn't see any harm in it. She was with Sinjin after all. He knew non of his kids could say no to him, they loved him, he was like their bigger brother, next to Sokka. "Maybe your right. Maybe its nothing." He turned around and headed in the direction Bato spoke of. "I'm gonna go look for them. Just hope she didn't convince him to dance with the penguins. They'd be gone till midnight." He said._

 _"I'll come with you." Bato said walking beside his friend. They walked for a couple of minutes, making a fair distance from the village. What Hakoda said stayed in his mind as they walked. He couldn't help but ask. "Dance with the penguins?"_

 _"You know how much Lori loves those penguins." He said chuckling. "If she could, she'd raise in army. Over throw Fire Lord Azulon and Earth King Kuei and install a Penguin Monarchy."_

 _"Penguin Monarchy?"_

 _"Her words, not mine." They both laughed._

 _"Hakoda I swear. Your children are something. But Lori is something else entirely."_

 _"Yes they are, but they're the light of my life." Hakoda said, reminiscing on the day all his children were born. The healers had said that his wife couldn't survive giving birth to twins, the both of them could've died, and yet they were born, healthy and alive, happy. A pair of little miracles, Kanna called them. "I don't know what I'd do if..." He was cut short when they suddenly heard a horrified shriek. It sounded to familiar to his daughter. He stopped in his tracks, his blood running colder then the snow. "Lori!" He called, but there was no response. "LORI!" He shouted and bolted in the direction in of the cry._

 _The two ran as fast as they could toward the source of the sound when they came across a body and scorch marks in the ground. It was Sinjin, alive but hurt. "Sinjin! What happened!?" Hakod asked, more like he interrogated. "Tell me what happened!"_

 _He looked up to the chief, his clothes partially burned and bleeding a little on his forehead. His whale tooth dagger also singed. The evidence was all around, but Hakoda refused to believe it, or he just couldn't process the information. "Fire Benders!" He finally shouted. "Ambushed! To many!" He said panting for breath._

 _Hakoda looked away from his second man and searched around the area looking for the only thing that mattered to him. But she was no where to be found. "My daughter!?" He shouted grasping at Sinjin's shoulders. "WHERE'S LORI!" He demanded as though his friend was responsible._

 _Sinjin's eyes were wide with fear, afraid of what he would do. Afraid of what would happen. "I DON"T KNOW!" He shouted. "I don't know!"_

 _Hakoda jumped back whipping around for any sign. Anything. There was no smoke, nothing charred. So she might not be dead yet. He found their deep footprints and followed down, running down the snowy hill toward the water. That was when he found the discarded little coat adorned with flower petals. Lori's coat. "No!" He continued running toward the shore. Running toward nothing with the false hope he could still save his daughter. Reaching the end was when he spotted the Fire Nation River Steamer off in the distance. Already to far away to make chase and quickly approaching the larger Fire Nation cruiser._

 _Bato and Sinjin had to grab Hakoda and pull him down before he jumped into the water trying to chase after them. He was going to do it too. He was going to jump in the water with hopes of saving Lori. He would've frozen to death trying to catch up to those ships. It was far too late. "GET OFF ME! I CAN SAVE HER!" He yelled at his two friends trying to save him from jumping into the freezing water. "GET OFF ME! LORI!"_

 _"HAKODA!" Sinjin yelled trying to calm his friend. "SHE'S GONE!" He said as Hakoda finally ceased his struggle. "She's gone. I'm sorry. She's gone."_

 _He collapsed into the snow holding onto his daughters coat which was adorned with flower petals. He buried his face into the coat and cried._

* * *

Katara kept her gaze away from Aang, tears down her face as she recalled the memory of one of the worst moments of her life. Aang didn't know what to say after hearing all that. How a sweet innocent little girl could be ripped away from her family, her home. And then turned into something vile, almost evil. "When dad, Bato and Sinjin came back without Lori, it destroyed me." Katara had finally said. Aang remained silent feeling shame for asking Katara about her sister. Seeing her so broken and sad made his heart sink, he regretted asking her. "I cried for a long time, I blamed my dad for death. I blamed them all for their death." She said with a broken voice. "She was just... gone. I never saw her again."

Aang perked up when she said that. _Her Death_. She said that Lori died the first time he asked about her too. But that couldn't be true, he saw her in Prince Zuko's ship. She was there clear as day. She even attacked him, and more viciously, when he said her name. "Katara have you ever thought that maybe, she didn't die?" He asked. Katara perked up for a moment just to look him in the eye as he spoke. Every word he said made her heart sink deeper and deeper. "Isn't there a least _some_ possibility that she could still be alive? I mean, not everyone in the Fire Nation can be as evil as you've said-"

"The Fire Nation is evil!" They heard Sokka snap. "Their horrible and murderous monsters! Every single one of them is evil and they deserve to burn like everything-"

"Sokka!" Katara silenced him from continuing that thought. He just lowered his head and felt the tears go down his face, once again feeling the loss of his youngest sister. Aang apologized again, knowing that the Fire Nation was a very touchy subject for them.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way. I'm really sorry."

Katara looked back at him again, his head lowered, and feeling shame for bringing it up again. "I wish I could be as optimistic as you Aang. But things changed in the hundred years you were gone. I wish I could still hope that Lori was still alive, but I gave up on that a long time ago. She's dead. I know she is." Katara said before turning away and wrapping her arms around herself. Feeling so sad and alone, she wanted nothing more then to just lie down and cry.

* * *

After Zuko had given the two guards who let the avatar escape the riot act, he had order his bodyguard to await in his cabin for him to arrive so that he may speak with her privately. Lori waited in his room, waiting patiently, but anxious of his arrival. She had her eyes closed and her hands pressed up against the wall as sort of a way to brace herself, to control herself from the anger she felt. They had the Avatar, after nearly three years of searching, they finally had him and her brother and sister got in the way. _Breath in. Breath out_. They got in the way and helped him escape. _Breath in. Breath out_. She clenched her fists. Her idiot brother and her wretched sister, they should've just stayed out of the way. _Breath in. Breath out_. Her fist tightened, digging her nails into the palm of her hand left hand. Her bandaged covered right hand just felt sore. She started banging on the wall repeatedly trying to release as much anger out as possible. She finally just slammed her left hand against the wall, leaving a small bloody print. She groaned and whipped it off with her bandaged right hand.

She finally pushed herself off the wall, exhaling hard with a growl angry at her brother and sister. They were now with the Avatar, and now they had to hunt them down. She clenched her fists and starred up at the swords and mask which Zukos wall when the door swung open and he stepped in. After the door closed behind him, she then turned around and stood at attention, back straight and arms behind her back. She waited for him to begin his tirade.

"I need answers!" Zuko finally spoke. "And I need you to tell me the truth!"

Lori kept a straight face but her voice gave off her annoyance. "I have never lied to you Zuko, you know me."

Zuko examined her deep blue eyes, seeing for any indication of resistance. He found none. "My men were frozen on the deck by a Water bender. That Water bender being _your_ sister!" He stepped closer to her trying his best to intimidate her. However he knew it would be in vain and it would just end up annoying her. "Why didn't you tell me that she was a Water bender."

Lori took a breath. "I didn't know." She tried her best to hide the annoyance in her voice. Zuko's eyes narrowed at her. "In case you've forgotten, I haven't been to the South Pole in TEN years. How was I supposed to know that Katara was a waterbender."

"You didn't know that she was a waterbender back then?" Zuko asked.

" _Back then?_ You mean, before I was kidnapped by the Fire Nation?! Before I was separated from my family?! Back when we had just turned four years old?! Who the hell starts bending at four anyways, I doubt even Azula started bending at that age." Lori snapped now fully annoyed with his accusations. "I know your upset, but that doesn't-"

"UPSET!" Zuko raised his voice and shouted, stepping closer to her, getting in her face. "UPSET IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT! WE FINALLY HAD HIM!"

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT!" Lori raised her voice as well. Shouting back at the prince with nearly as much anger. "IF IT WASN'T FOR THOSE IDIOTS _YOU_ PUT IN CHARGE OF TAKING THE AVATAR TO THE PRISON HOLD INSTEAD OF ME, WE WOULD'VE BEEN HALF WAY TO THE FIRE NATION BY NOW!"

"HOW DO YOU KNOW _YOU_ WOULD'NT HAVE MADE THE SAME MISTAKE!"

"BECAUSE I'M NOT A SCREW UP LIKE _YOU_!"

Zuko roared with anger releasing a breath of fire and throwing a flaming fist into the wall. She knew that was intended for her, but he decided it would be best to take his anger out on the wall. The wall couldn't punch back. He took heavy breaths letting the anger pass over him before he continued on with this meeting. Lori watched him seething up against the wall slowly trying to calm himself, exhaled letting her own anger wash over her as General Iroh had always told her. It wasn't the first argument they had, and it most certainly wouldn't be the last. "We'll get him next time." She said with a more calm voice.

Zuko backed off the wall and stared at her. The anger passing but not completely, feeling more so angry with himself for his failure. He walked over and took a seat in his cot putting his face in his hands. He could only imagine what his father would think of him. Losing the Avatar, a mere child, how pathetic could he be. "We had him. And we let him get away." He said quietly with a broken voice.

Lori lowered her head feeling the guilt of their failure. It was her job to ensure that Prince Zuko was successful in his mission. His failures were her failures, and failing again would ensure that Zuko would never make it back home. And she wanted nothing more then to see Zuko be able to go back home with open arms and his fathers love. Even if his father was a royal pain and absolutely hated her.

She walked over to his side and slapped him hard across the back of the head. He reached back feeling the pain and finally looked up to face her. "OW! What was that for?"

"For yelling at me!" She answered and then slapped him two more times.

"OW! OW! And those!?"

"For manhandling my grandmother you son of a bitch!" She answered hard with her arms crossed.

Zuko rubbed the back of his head and then put his head back down. He did feel bad for how he treated the old woman. "I'm sorry okay. I didn't know."

"So what, would've manhandled any other old woman?" She asked sarcastically.

"No. Thats not what I meant."

"Aw, so its just _my_ grandmother thats so special." She asked with a snarky smirk.

"Oh my God just get out! Leave me be to think!" He directed her toward the door. She turned away patting him on the shoulder before opening the door. "We gonna need to dock in the next couple days for repairs." He informed her before she left. She nodded and then shut the door behind her before heading to her own room.

Just around the corner and a couple doors down was the door to her cabin. When she arrived the door was slightly ajar, she noticed but she gave little thought about it. It had been a long day and she wanted nothing more then to rest. When she opened the door Iroh was there waiting for her. He stood up when he saw her. "Is everything okay? I heard you two yelling." He asked.

She dismissed his concern and walked over to her footlocker by the foot of her bed. "No need to worry. Just a little spat, nothing more." She answered passively.

He tried to examine her eyes to see if they held the truth when he saw her left bleeding. "Your hand dear." Lori looked up at him and then looked to her bandaged right hand before realizing he was talking about her left hand. The on with the blood. "Did my nephew do this?" He asked.

Lori just sighed and tried whipping the blood off again. "No he did not. I was upset and took it out on his wall." She simply said before continuing her search.

This did not satisfy the retired general. He continued pressing. "Are you sure? He didn't say anything too harsh to you? Or you him for that matter? I heard your arguing from in here."

Lori continued searching through her footlocker till she found what she was looking for. A piece of rolled up parchment. When she unrolled it, it was a portrait of her sister Katara. Or more so what she believed she would look like now at fourteen. It was more or less similar to the real deal, just some touching up. "Its just fine. So we had a little argument. Besides, we had just captured the avatar and he escaped, its understandable that we'd be upset." was her reply.

Again Iroh was not satisfied by her response. Even as she walked over to her desk and dipped the brush into the ink well did he feel responsible for her well being. Being her caretaker and having raised her since the day she arrived in the Royal palace, of course he would be worried. "I just worry for you. The both of you. I haven't heard the two of you argue like that before. And then that bang-"

Lori was in the middle of adding Katara's hair loops when she finally stood back up and turned to put her hands on Iroh's shoulders in an effort to calm him. "Uncle, please. It's fine. I promise you, everything is okay between us." She knew he meant well. She knew that his concern was coming from a place of love, but sometimes, most times actually, it got on her nerves. She wasn't the same frightened little girl when she first arrived in the Fire Nation. "Please calm yourself Uncle. Please, for both our sakes." She asked kindly and Iroh finally backed off. Now more so interested in what she was doing.

"What is that on your desk?" He asked, finally letting the previous topic go.

Lori turned around and returned to her portrait. continuing on finishing up the latest details. "Its a portrait of, _my sister_. Just something I've been working, just needs some finishing touches." She said and continued on her work. Iroh examined the portrait of her twin. She had always been a very talented artist, even as a child. Always able to draw a portrait of someone only from memory. However she would only do portraits of, _"people she's met"_ , as she put it along time ago. And thats what worried him. She never did portraits of herself, himself or Zuko, always of, _certain_ people. And those always came from a bad place.

"How do you feel about the situation now?" He asked as Lori finished her latest work and blew on it to cry the ink faster. He could see the look in her eye as she stared at her work anger. "Your brother and sister are with the Avatar now. How do you feel about potentially having to face them?" He asked.

"I don't feel, Uncle." She said almost flat. She stuck the portrait on her wooden dummy, the portrait of her sister starring back at her with almost judgmental eyes. "I swore an oath remember? I am sworn to stay at Zuko's side. Thats just how it is." She took her gauntlet and strapped it on her hand before steping back past Iroh a good six yards away from the dummy.

The general grew more worried with how she was being with the situation. But he could still see the anger in her eyes, like she was angry, not from the Avatars escape, but more so with her families involvement. "You must understand that I am asking you this for your own sake. Are you sure you will be okay with their involvment? What happens if they get in the way of capturing the Avatar?"

Lori took a deep breath "I'm only responsible for Zukos safety." She said and thrusted her arm forward launching a knife into the air and striking the portrait of Katara in the lower jaw. She loads another knife. "If they get in the way again-" She fires again striking Katara, to the left of her nose. She loads another knife. "So be it." She fires again striking Katara in between the eyes. Now satisfied with her performance she steps forward removing the knives before turning back to Iroh. "Thank you for your concern Uncle, but its not needed. Now if you don't mind I'm rather tired and would like to rest." She said calmly and with a smile to put the man at ease.

He was not at ease, seeing how she just struck the portrait of her sister, it made him worry what would happen once they came face to face. However he respected her wishes and didn't press on the matter. He gave a light bow before leaving. "Good night dear. But please think about what we discussed."

"I will. Good night Uncle." She said with a smile and returned the bow before he exited the room and shut the door behind him. She turned back around to face the portrait of her sister, still starring back at her with those judgmental eyes. Her smile dropped and was replaced with anger as she stepped up to the portrait. She clenched her fist, angry at her for her involvement in the Avatars escape. "You did this!" She said through her gritted teeth with venom as she extended her blade and stabbed Katara in the neck.


	4. Zhao

It had been days since the Avatar had escaped their ship in the South Pole. Zuko still felt the anger and shame from their previous failure. After nearly three years they finally had him, the Avatar, a mere child, and he let him get away. There was no excuse for such a pitiful failure. He was Prince Zuko, and he was accompanied by his Uncle General Iroh, and his most trusted ally Lori, together they should've been able to hold a mere twelve year old boy, but he let his arrogance get in his way. He underestimated him, but that wouldn't happen, he'd make sure the Avatar didn't get one over him again. He wouldn't stop till the Avatar was in chains, but for now he needed to be patient and wait on repairs for his ship.

Lori was currently in her room lying on her cot resting. She hadn't gotten much sleep in the last few days after her talk with Iroh. The events from that evening replayed in her mind again and again, and no amount of rest, training, or ordering the crew around could put her mind at ease. Her mind kept imagining how things could have played out differently. Most notably, if she were the one to escort the Avatar to the prison hold, then perhaps he wouldn't have escaped. If her brother and sister hadn't gotten involved, then they wouldn't have helped the Avatar escape, and now wouldn't be being hunted down by themselves. By herself.

The sound of a knock at her door is what brought her out of her day dream. She sat up from her cot rubbing the tiredness from her eyes and stretching the soreness from her limbs. Despite feeling annoyed by the guards interruptions, she stood up and answered the knock, opening the door. "Mam, Prince Zuko wanted me to inform you that we'll be docking soon in a of couple hours. He asks for your presence upon arrival." The guard said.

Lori nodded in understanding. "You can tell Prince Zuko I'll be with him by then." She replied. The guard gave a bow before departing. Lori shut the door closed, taking another moment to herself. She was not looking forward to arriving at port. It was always good to get on dry land but she despised landing on a Fire Nation ship yard. Usually officers would ask questions ask Prince Zuko how their search for the Avatar was going only to further humiliate him for his continued failure. It angered her so when they mocked him, it only increased her desire for their success, if only to laugh back into their faces for not believing in him like she did. It was just a matter of time till they found and captured the Avatar once again, that'll show them all, but for now, they were still on the search and currently needed repairs. She finally began disrobing and getting dressed in her armor. After getting ready she left her room and made her way to the main deck where she would wait for them to arrive.

Within the next few hours they had finally docked in the Fire Nation Naval Base. The other Fire Nation cruisers towered over their own smaller, out of date cruiser, yet another thing that infuriated Lori. Fire Lord Ozai couldn't even give his son a fair chance and give him a standard cruiser. No, he gave him an old smaller ship which had been out of service for decades. Even the Southern Raiders ships were much more advanced then their old ship. If they had one of these cruisers, they'd have more armaments, more storage, more fuel reserves, meaning less stops at dock to restock and refuel. Upon departing their ship, all the crew quickly made their way to the barracks as quickly as possible in hopes of looking for some down time. Iroh, Zuko and herself remained by the ship hoping that this stop will be short.

"You know Prince Zuko, perhaps it would be wise for yourself to have some down time too." Iroh voiced his opinion seeing as they were the only ones left at the ship. He then turned to her. "You as well Lori. We have all had a difficult time these past few days. You should always find time for yourself, rest rejuvenates ones body and soul."

Lori just sighed. Iroh did have a point, they had all been working restlessly since coming to the south, however Lori, like her Prince, was only focused on their mission at hand. "We don't have time to worry about such non-sense uncle. We need to get out to sea as soon as possible." She voiced much to the disappointment to the General.

"Lori's right uncle. We have much more important things to worry about then the state of our body and soul. And thats our mission at hand." Zuko said finalizing her point. Iroh made no other comment about the matter. He knew from their many, many years together that when Lori and Zuko were in agreement on something, their combined word was most often final.

Once they arrived at the Harbormaster, General Iroh had requested for repairs to their ship as quickly as possible. Zuko was annoyed when he had informed them that it would take several hours for repairs to be complete due to the extensive damage their ship sustained. When questioned about it Zuko blew him angrily which probably wasn't a good idea. Lori wouldn't be surprised if they found out that repairs would just so happen to ' _Take longer then expected due the extent of the damages_.' She'd break his legs if they tried pulling that over them. "Uncle I want the repairs made as quickly as possible. I don't want to stay too long and risk losing his trail."

"You mean the Avatar?"

"Uncle!" Lori snapped at the elder for slipping.

"Don't mention his name on these docks!" Zuko snaps at his uncle as well. "Once word gets out that he's alive, every Firebender will be out looking for him! And I DON'T want anyone getting in the way!"

Before anyone could speak up they are interrupted by someone neither Zuko and especially Lori wanted to see again. "Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?" Says the half blind Commanding Officer of the Naval Port as he approaches the three.

"Captain Zhao." Zuko announces as he approaches.

"Its Commander now." He corrects the Prince, only half forgiving him for his ignorance. "And General Iroh-" He bows to the retired general out of respect. "-Great hero of our nation."

"Retired General." Said general politely corrects before giving a polite and respectful bow.

"And of course, the Prince's esteemed bodyguard. It is a pleasure to see you again Warrant Officer Lauren, my how you've grown." He takes Lori's left hand and kisses it. The action angers Zuko, but not as much as it angers Lori. She takes her hand back with disgust, clenching her other gauntleted fist behind her back. She scowls even more from the use of her fake name, Lauren. She hates how his single eye lingers on her. She can still feel the phantom eye behind his eyepatch starring at her and it sickens her.

"Commander." She replies trying her best to hide the disgust in her voice, her face remains in a permanent scowl.

"The Fire Lords brother and son are welcomed guests anytime. What brings you to my Harbor?" He asks. His eye occasionally glances at Lori which no one fails to notice. Every glance he gives angers her evermore so.

"Our ship is being repaired." Iroh answers, gesturing to their ship, its forward bow in total disrepair.

"Thats quiet a bit a damage." Zhao observes.

"Yes! You wouldn't believe what happened." Zuko exclaims. "Uncle! Tell Commander Zhao what happened." Zuko passes to his uncle.

"Yes, I will do that." Uncle reluctantly follows along, but fails to come up with a believable excuse. "It was incredible. What did we crash or something?"

"Yes!" The pressure is once again back on Zuko. "Right in to, an Earth Kingdom ship!" He says with false awe as though remembering the fantastic event. Lori pushes down the groan thats threatening to escape her lips, and the urge to face palm from her Prince's poor excuse. She simply rolls her eyes.

"Really." Zhao feigns amazement, most likely aware that they are hiding something. "You must regale me with all the thrilling details. Join me for a drink."The way he narrows his eye at Zuko irritates the Prince and his bodyguard. His invitation is just his way of saying, ' _You won't leave until I say_.'

Lori can sense Zuko feeling anxious and is looking for a way out. Luckily she just so happens to remember that they must restock their supplies. "Apologies Commander, but we simply don't have the time for today, we need to resupply. Perhaps next time." Lori tries to excuse them and motions for the others to walk, but shes caught by Zhao whose holding her by the arm.

"Oh no please. Let me take care of your supply situation, while you all join me. I insist." He says his eye once again lingering on her. She rips her arm free form his grasp.

Zuko once again tries to decline. "Sorry, but we have to go." He says with bitterness in his voice, but his word means nothing when Iroh stops them, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Prince Zuko, show Commander Zhao your respect." He says and then turns to the Commander. "We would be honored to join you." Lori eyes widen and just stares in shock at her elders response, thinking him to be insane. "Do you have any Ginseng Tea? Its my favorite." Iroh says as he walks off followed by Zhao.

Zuko angry and in disbelief growls and shoots fire behind him in anger. Lori wishes she was a firebender like her Prince, it'd be much easier to let her anger out just by fire bending. Instead as their walking she lets her anger out by slamming her fists at nearby wooden posts. She inadvertently moves snow away from her but fails to notice it as do the rest of her companions. As they continue walking to Zhao's Command tent, Lori can't shake the feeling that their being watched. She's shares her concerns with her Prince who also has the same feeling. They want nothing more then to leave.

"Would it be possible for us to just sneak out of here?" Lori whispers.

"Not without those repairs." Zuko upsettingly replies.

Lori curses to herself for their misfortune. They could've stopped at any other harbor for repairs. Why did have to be Zhao's. She cursed whichever spirit laid their misfortune. As they continue to walk a woman in drab runs up to her clutching onto her arm. Lori is taken aback from the abrupt attack, ready to defend herself, but falters when she sees her would be assailant. She's a frail, ragged young woman wearing slaves garb and had wide and pleading eyes. She looks to be in her early twenties. "You! I-I know you." She says manically. "Yes yes! I remember you! I know who you are!"

Lori remains in shock from this young woman not sure how to react. She won't attack her, but she can't escape. However two guards come and grab the young woman away. "Get back here!" They demand as they pull the flailing woman. "Apologies Warrant Officer." One of the guards says as they drag the woman away who is still crying.

"I know you! I know who you are! I know you!" She cried as she's dragged further away by the guards. Most likely to be taken away to the slave pens. Lori is left in shock by what had just happened unsure how to feel. The young woman said she knew who she was. Who she really was. Nobody knew who she was. The only people who knew who she was were her Prince and her elder.

"You okay?" Zuko asks seeing the confused look on her face.

Lori turns back to him seeing the concerned look on his face. She shakes off the uneasiness she's feeling and brushes off his concerns, believing that they have more things to be concerned about then her well being. "I'm fine Zuko. No need to worry about me."

Zuko stills sees the confusion apparent on her face. Her claim doesn't coincide with her expression but he lets the matter slide. Almost. "What was the about?" He asks in regard to the young woman.

Lori looks toward the direction where she was taken away. "I'm not sure."

"She said she knew you."

She turns back to Zuko and just shrugs, not really sure how to respond. They continue their walk toward Zhao's Command Tent with questions still in their mind. Lori feels an oncoming headache, similar to the one she had back on the ship when they left the Southern Water Tribe. The young woman's voice replaying in her mind over and over again. ' _I know who you are_.' She hears the words replay in her head. The voice seemed familiar. Too familiar.

* * *

Elsewhere on the Naval Base the rest of Zuko's crew have gone there separate ways to enjoy their time on land and away from the banished prince. Zuko's temper and mission to capture the Avatar had been pushing their crews patients to the brink. Of course non of them had ever spoken up to him about it, or risk invoking his wrath, or worse, the wrath of his bodyguard. Some men went over to the brothels to enjoy the pleasures of women while others simply walked over to the tavern for some drinks to unwind. Lieutenant Jee was one of them.

He sat around a table with two other crew members and two other soldiers and an officer stationed on the harbor. The soldiers talked about how boring it was here while the crew talked about how much they despised sailing with the prince. "All he does is yell and shout orders. As if we mean nothing." Jee voiced taking another swig of his drink. Another, more drunk crew member spoke up as well.

"Yeah. And if he catches you shlacking for a second he practically burms your ass for it." He drunkenly mumbles and nearly stumbles out of his seat but is caught by the Lieutenant.

"Drunk." He calls him and proceeds to drink.

One of the soldiers leans in with a look in his eye. "We saw the Prince walking by and his little _lady_ _friend_." He says with a bit of an inflection. "Whats her story?"

Jee and the other two crew members immediately snap, as though not wanting to get involved. Even the drunk nearly sobered up from the mention of the Prince's bodyguard. "Believe me, you don't want mess with her." The other, younger, crew member said before taking another drink.

"She's Prince Zuko's bodyguard. That's all you need to know." Lieutenant Jee said.

"She's bad news." The younger crew member says. "Believe me. You don't wanna try."

"You _tried_ eh?" The curious soldier asks with a bit of a smile. The younger crew member in question raises his right hand revealing he's missing his ring and pinky finger. The other soldiers all reeled back in disturbance.

"Damn." Said the Officer in surprise. "Thats crazy."

The drunken soldier gave a harty laugh. "You wanna talk crazy. You wouldn't believe what happened down south."

* * *

They arrive at Zhao's Command Tent where a couple seats are waiting for them and a servant is serving tea. Iroh delightfully accepts the tea, Zuko takes a seat and accepts the tea as well but doesn't drink it, not wanting to be here. Lori respectfully refuses both, preferring to stand at attention by her Prince's side. Zhao is currently rambling on and on about his quest to seize Ba Sing Se for the Fire Nation. Zuko and Lori share a look of boredom and make hushed comments on how the great Earth Kingdom city would surrender within seconds if Zhao were to just give a speech.

"I'm so bored." Zuko whispers to his bodyguard. "How does nobody just pass out."

"Why do you think I chose to stand." She whispered back causing Zuko to do a quiet snort.

"-And by years end-" The two snap back at attention. "The Earth Kingdom Capital will be under our rule. The Fire Lord will finally claim victory in this war." He concludes.

"If my father thinks the rest of the world will follow him willingly, then he is a fool." Zuko said.

Lori's eyes widened in surprise a little from Zuko's words. "My my. I would expect those kinds of words from dear Lauren, but you. Two years at seas done little to temper your tongue. So how's your search for the Avatar going?" Zhao asks.

They're interrupted by the sound of a near by weapon rack collapsing by Iroh. Lori tried to rush over to help him but it was all in vain as the assortment of weapons collapsed with a loud crash. She began arranging them back up while the General slowly backed away. "Eh, my fault entirely."

"Seriously Uncle?" Lori snaps quietly at her elder. She finishes rearranging the weapons back on the rack before returning to Zuko's side.

"We haven't found him yet." Zuko says.

"Did you really expect to?" Zhao responds in a mocking tone. "The Avatar died a hundred years ago along with the rest of the Airbenders." Zuko looks away from Zhao's gaze, trying hide from his accusing gaze. Zhao notices and smirks. "Unless you've found some evidence that the Avatars alive."

"No. Nothin." Zuko says disheartened.

"Prince Zuko, the Avatar is the only one who could stop the Fire nation from winning this war." He stands up and looks down on the prince with disapproving eyes. "If you have an ounce of loyalty left, you will tell me what you've found."

"We haven't found anything, _Commander_." Lori speaks up say Zhao's rank with venom. Zhao does not like it.

"I'm sorry Warrant Officer, but I don't recall speaking to you." He replies with such a snarky tone making Lori scowl even more.

"She's correct. It's like you said, the Avatar probably died along time ago." Zhao doesn't accept the answer but Zuko doesn't care. He stands up ready to leave despite the repairs most likely aren't complete. "Come on Uncle, Lori, we're going." He says and he along with Lori walk toward the exit of the tent but are blocked by the guards. Lori reaches for her swords incase necessary, but her attention is quickly drawn to the Officer who had just entered.

"Commander Zhao, we questioned the crew as instructed." Lori's eyes widened in shock. "They confirmed that Prince Zuko had the Avatar in custody, but let him escape."

Before he even turned around she could see the smirk on Zhao's face. "Now, remind me, how exactly was your ship damaged."

Lori was prepared to draw her swords and fought off the guards, but Zuko motioned her to remain calm. There was no point in getting in anymore trouble, so they simply returned to their previous spots while Zuko explained everything. With every word Lori could see Zuko sink deeper and deeper into his seat while Zhao's eye burned into him and occasionally glanced at her. She hated when he did that.

"So a twelve year old boy bested you and your Firebenders. Your more pathetic then I thought." That last remark made Lori clench her fist tight. ' _Don't call him that._ ' She thought to herself.

"It was my fault. I was in charge of escorting the Avatar and he snuck up on me. It was my responsibility-"

"When I wish to speak to you, Warrant Officer, I will speak to you!" Zhao snaps snaps at her. She scowls and clenches her fist. His outburst angers Zuko, feeling the heat bod rising, but he remains composed. On the outside.

"I underestimated him once. It will not happen again."

"No it will not, because you won't have a second chance." Zhao says.

"Commander Zhao-" Zuko pleads. "I've been hunting the Avatar for two years and I-"

"And you failed!" Zhao shouts swiping fire across for effect. "Capturing the Avatar is too important to leave in a teenagers hands. Or two for that matter." He looks over to Lori for that comment. "He's mine now." He declares. Zuko lurches forward but is calmed stopped and calmed by Lori. "Keep them here." As much as she would love to see Zhao beaten down, she knows it would only make things worse. Zuko sees the pleading look in her eye before he finally settles down. Instead he takes his anger out on the table as Zhao walks away.

"More tea please." Iroh asks calmly.

It was maybe another hour that they waited in Zhao's Command Tent. Guards surrounded the exits so there was no way out. Zuko was pacing back and forth anxious about what Zhao was up to. "Will you calm down. Your making me nervous." Lori said sitting the Zuko's seat with her arms crossed. Iroh offered her some tea from a fresh brew but she politely declined. Right now she didn't need tea. She needed to get herself and her prince out of here so they could continue their search for the Avatar. Disappointedly she couldn't just cut her way through the army of guards, it would be unwise to do so.

Zhao finally returned to the tent with grin."My search party is ready. Once I'm out to sea, my guards will escort you back to your ship, and you'll be free to go."

Zuko's clenched his fist and then turned to the Commander. "Why? Are you worried I'm going to try and stop you."

Zhao laughed it off which made Lori scowl. "You? Stop me!? Impossible!"

Zuko stood tall finally standing up for himself since they were held here. "DON'T underestimate me Zhao! I will capture the Avatar before you!"

"Prince Zuko thats enough." Iroh tried to calm him down. Lori remained silent, but she was fully on her Prince's side.

"You can't compete with me. I have hundreds of warships under my command. And you, your just a banished prince. No home. No allies, aside from your little pet here. Your own father doesn't even want you."

"Your wrong. Once I deliver the Avatar, he will welcome me home with honor, and restore my rightful place on the throne." Zuko said with a determined tone in his voice, but his gaze lowered slightly as though trying to convince himself.

"If your father really wanted you home, he would have let you return by now, Avatar or no Avatar." Lori put her head down and closed her eyes, not wanting to see the look on Zuko's face, knowing that what Zhao was saying was true. She wished it wasn't, for Zuko's sake, but it was.

"Thats not true."

"You have the scar to prove it."

Lori's eyes widened from that remark. Zuko roared in anger and jerked forward to meet Zhao eye to eye. "MAYBE YOU'D LIKE ONE TO MATCH!" He roared.

"Is that a challenge?" Zhao asked.

"An Agni Kai! At Sunset! Maybe then you'd have one to match your own!" With that last remark Lori could practically see Zhao's scar under his eyepatch bulging with anger. The one thing the Commander and her Prince had in common was how sensitive they were of their respective scars. She knew that Zuko was just pushing him.

After a second of deliberating, Zhao managed to find his composure enough to agree. "Very well. Its a shame your father won't be here to watch me humiliate you. I guess your uncle and _pet_ will do." He said before storming off.

The tent remained silent only Iroh and Lori stood by Zuko with looks of concern for the young prince. "Prince Zuko, have you forgotten what happened last time you dueled a master?"

"I will never forget." Zuko said with bitterness and anger. Lori closed her eyes and lowered her gaze, taking in a deep breath. She would never forget either.


	5. Agni Kai

**Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. I've just been struggling to find time to write with life stuff going on, family stuff (Nothing major, just stuff), also with changes going on at my job, and trouble sleeping.**

 **I work the night shift, and its a factory job, I'm always tired sometimes I get home, have a quick breakfast and then sleep and wake up with maybe an hour, two if I'm lucky before having to go back in. Am I complaining I sleep a lot, believe me with my job it doesn't feel like a whole lot. I pays good money, but its tiring work.**

 **Anyway, I'm trying to get back in the flow of writing and hopefully can continue this story faithfully. I appreciate the comments and reviews. Thanks again.**

* * *

Shortly after Zhao left the tent a servant arrived and served them all meal, stating that Zhao wanted to make sure Zuko was at his best for their duel. Zuko refused to eat, instead continued to pace around the tent while Iroh and Lori ate their own meals. Zuko didn't trust his meal, not trusting Zhao enough to not spike his meal to guarantee his victory. Lori watched him pace around with the same look of worry that he had on his face since Zhao had accepted his Agni Kai challenge.

"Will you please settle down and eat. Your seriously making me nervous." Lori said as she pushed her plate aside having finished her meal. Zuko turned to face her but didn't follow through with her plea.

"I'm not eating anything Zhao is serving." He stated and went back to pacing back and forth. Lori slid his plate toward herself and started helping herself.

"Well if your not eating it then I am." She said and took a bite before noticing Iroh and Zuko looked at her with raised eyebrows. "What? I'm hungry and I didn't have any breakfast." She said before she continued eating.

"Well maybe if you didn't sleep in this morning you wouldn't have missed breakfast." Zuko said quietly but it didn't go unheard. Lori immediately put her utensils down and turn to face him.

"Well I wouldn't have overslept and missed breakfast if I weren't so busy protecting your ass all night." She remarked with a snarky tone in her voice which made Iroh chuckle.

"Who says I need you to protect me!?" He said back.

Lori pulled down her left sleeve and pointed to the brand tattoo on her wrist in the shape of half a dragons face, which she received when she first swore the oath. "This mark. From three years ago. When I swore to become your bodyguard and protect you with my life. Ring any bells?" She said.

General Iroh just laughed at her response and at Zuko's inability to come up with a retort. "I believe she has you there nephew." He said which caused Zuko to growl upset.

"Its not about whose right and whose wrong Uncle!" Zuko declared before continuing to pace back and forth. Lori just turned to her elder and mouthed that she had one the argument with Iroh nodding in agreement. There expressions changed however as Zuko continued pacing and saw how anxious he was about the coming fight. He hadn't dueled anyone since _The_ Agni Kai, nor did he have anyone to actively practice with since his banishment. Lori took her last bite before sliding the steamed fish away. She didn't eat much of it. It was then Iroh asked the guards present if they could be left alone. After a second of deliberating the guards agreed but stated they would be just outside. Most likely to make sure they didn't escape. Lori rolled her eyes.

"You really should eat Prince Zuko. You will need your strength." Iroh said with a calm voice.

"I'm not eating anything thats from Zhao. He might have poisoned it or something." He said with a slight panic in his voice.

"I've taken a few bites from it and I'm still okay." Lori said with a full mouth, unashamed. She continued after swallowing. "Your just being paranoid." She added but it did nothing to put Zuko at ease. Now she had a feeling she made him even more nervous having just eaten something that might or might not be poisonous. "Everything's going to be alright. Once you beat him we'll get out of here and be back to hunting the Avatar."

Again Zuko didn't seem convinced. He did finally stop pacing but he was stiff and kept his hand on his chin. "I just feel like Zhao is planning something. Why else would he take my challenge so willingly?" He closed his eyes hoping to find the answer behind his closed eyelids. They could see the grimace on his face when he wasn't satisfied when he couldn't find the answer. "I need to meditate." He said before turning and sitting in front of a Fire Nation tapestry to begin his meditation. Lori kept his eyes on him, a worried look in her eyes. He wasn't in his right mind, he was too preoccupied with the Avatar that he wasn't thinking straight. This distraction could cause him his match.

She stood from where she sat and walked over to her prince, crouching down beside him. He was deep in concentration, but he was still very stiff, the movement under his eyelids told her meditation wasn't helping. She put her hand on his shoulder and felt his shoulders relax. He didn't open his eyes but he was aware of her presence. She gave him a minute to calm himself, his breathing settled and the movement under his eyes steadied.

"You've got this Zuko. Zhao is arrogant and overconfident, and that will be his downfall. You can beat him. I know you can." She said in a rare soft voice. She didn't say it just for support, she whole heartedly believed he could win. He was a talented fire bender and she knew it. She gave a soft squeeze as reassurance. Their moment was ruined when the flaps of the tent parted and entered Zhao. Zuko tensed once again.

"Well what a heart warming moment between two young teenagers." Zhao said announcing his presence. Zuko's fists clenched at the sound of his voice, but Lori managed to keep him from bursting.

"I believe that the General asked for some privacy!" Lori snapped at the Commander. She stood up and turned to face him with a scowl on her face. Her eyes narrowed even more as Zhao grin grew wider.

"I suppose your right." Zhao said turning to his guest, a Fire Sage. His sudden cooperation leaving the two teenagers suspicious. "Perhaps we should leave the two. Let them enjoy all the time they have left together."

"Whats that supposed to mean!?" Lori demanded. Zuko cocked his head slightly. Zhao's grin grew even more.

"Well it means, _when_ I beat him in our duel, you will be joining me in my search for the Avatar." He stated. Lori's eyes widened from shock. Zuko jumped to his feet whipping around to face Zhao. Iroh remained silent in horror.

"WHAT!" Zuko shouted. "That was never agreed upon!"

"You, you can't do that!" Lori argued. "I am _sworn_ to Prince Zuko and him alone, overseen by the Head Fire Sage. The Oath surpasses even the word of the Fire Lord!" She said then turned to the general for any kind of aid. "Uncle, tell him!"

"His word won't mean anything. Nor will yours, _especially_ yours. That is why I brought along another Fire Sage to authenticate the ruling." Zhao stated motioning to the sage standing beside him to enter. The smirk on his face growing more from their outrage.

Lori's eyes were wild, like they were ready to bulge out of her skull. She bared her teeth, snarling in anger, she flexed her hands, the claws of her gauntlet ready to pounce. "You slithering MAGGOT SLUG!" She cried out in fury and tried to leap forward to attack, but Iroh held her down before she could do anything. "LET ME GO UNCLE!" She cried out, trying to wriggle out of her elders grasp, but his grip on her was iron tight.

Her enraged temper brought shivers to the sage who could see the evil intent in her eyes, but to Zhao, it made him smile. "My word, I hope your this feisty when we're at sea." He says to himself, but he made sure everyone could hear it.

"Go! To! HELL!" She shouted.

After seeing Lori snap, Zuko finally had enough of Zhao's words. Feeling his blood boiling now, he marched forward to come face to face with the Commander. "We never spoke about this! Lori's freedom was NEVER on the table!" He swiped his hand across drawing fire between them to further his point. "I will not agree to this!" He shouted.

Although Lori was grateful for Zuko's interference, the anger returned when Zhao simply laughed at Zuko's words of defiance. "Well then if you refuse to fight me, then dear Lauren might as well pack up so we can be on our way." He said.

"What are you talking about!?" Zuko demanded.

"Well, in refusing to fight me, to forfeit the Agni Kai and, with the word of the Fire Sage, Lauren gets sworn to me." Lori froze in horror, suddenly feeling the urge to vomit and feeling as though she might collapse from Zhao's words. "Its funny how things work out. You fight, and then lose, and Lauren leaves with me while your stuck here. Or, you don't fight, and Lauren leaves with me while your stuck here. its a win win." He says with such confidence in his voice with a hint of excitement at the prospect of finally having her with him.

Forcing down the sickening feeling she had, she marched forward to stand by her Prince. "I will never follow you!" She said defiantly. Zhao leered closer.

"You won't have a choice." He said gently brushing his finger against her chin which she immediately shoved away, disgusted. He said before exiting. "I guess we'll know of your answer at sunset. Be there. Or don't. It doesn't really matter." He said before walking of the tent with the Fire Sage behind him.

With him gone Lori finally found it in her to breath. She was shaking. She couldn't leave Zuko. She could never leave him. And she most certainly couldn't go with Zhao. She turned around to her elder for any kind of aid. "Uncle please. He can't do this, can he?"

The look in Iroh's was grim. he simply closed them not wanting to see the look of horror in her eyes. He knew as well as Zuko did why she couldn't go with Zhao. That would be the last thing any of them would want. "I'm sorry Lori, but with the Fire Sage at his disposable there is nothing I can do."

Lori was silent feeling her heart sink at the news. He couldn't do anything, but that didn't mean she was ready to give up. The key was that Fire Sage. "So what your saying it, without the Fire Sage..." She asked as she extended the blade in her gauntlet. Before she could finish her thought Iroh cut her off.

"No Lori! You will do no such thing!"

"What choice do we have Uncle!?" She yelled, but the forbidding look he gave her spoke volumes. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't simply kill the Fire Sage without getting them all into all sorts of trouble. She then turned to her Prince who had been silent since. "Zuko." She said in a soft pleading voice. He turned to her afraid to see the pleading look in her eyes.

* * *

Sunset was fast approaching and the Commander had yet to receive an answer from Zuko, however he still had to make an appearance. When Zhao arrived at the arena he wasn't sure how to feel at the sight which awaited him. There on the opposite side of the arena was his opponent along with his uncle and bodyguard. Either way he smirked. It seemed as though it would be a good day for him after all. He'll defeat the Prince in an Agni Kai, humiliating him, and his bodyguard would be sworn to _him_ once this was over.

On the opposite side of the arena awaited Zuko, Iroh, and Lori, all with the same level of disdain. Zhao waited on the opposite side with a smug look on his face which made Lori want to vomit. His arrogance and overconfidence always irritated her. She was certain that his ego would cause him the fight, she knew that Zuko was a far more talented fire bender then most people realized, but that didn't stop her from worrying. As the hour to sunset drew closer, the arena began to fill with other guards and soldiers, both to spectate at the chance to see the Prince of the Fire Nation get beaten, but to also make sure they didn't run. If they suddenly decided that running would be a much better alternative, they probably wouldn't make it to the shore. And even if they did, they would forever be marked as traitors. So, not the best plan.

With the final minutes until sunset approaching, both combatants turned away from each other and kneeled as per tradition. Zuko didn't have to see the disappointed look on his uncles face to know what he thought of all this. He didn't like the idea of his nephew fighting for Lori's freedom, but he knew they didn't have a choice. Most of his anger was toward Zhao for putting them all in this difficult position. Non the less Iroh hoped that Zuko could set aside enough anger to win. Anger was his greatest weakness. As were most other Fire Benders. Zhao included.

"Remember your firebending basics Prince Zuko. They are your greatest weapons." Iroh said with a steady voice.

Zuko's eyes remained to the floor taking in his uncle's words. He would need every advantage he could find. He finally looked up to at his bodyguard in the eyes. She kept a calm demeanor and callous persona, but he could see the worry in her eyes. He couldn't have her worrying for him, especially since he relied on her for support. He looked her in the eyes. "I won't let him win." He said to her directly to reassure, that she wouldn't be going anywhere. He could see the panic in her eyes subside, only barely but it was enough. The edges of her lips curved ever slightly into a smile, that only he could see. A firm nod was her response.

Sunset finally arrived. Zuko and Zhao both stood, their ceremonial attire that draped over their shoulders falling to the floor. Lori's eyes wandered elsewhere and she puffed her currently red and warm cheeks, trying to find anything more interesting to stare at that wasn't Zuko's muscular build. All these years out at sea and he still managed to improve on his build since the day they were banished, but she wasn't impressed or into it. She wouldn't watch him work on his training exercises. Honest.

Both he and Zhao turned to face each other and took fighting stances. The gong rang out, sunset finally setting. Both combatants stood against each other waiting, preparing for the other to strike first. Zhao was the most patient, waiting for the prince to strike first. As impatient as always, Zuko struck first. Winding his arms in a circular motion and then blasting a shot at Zhao. The slow moving blast made it easy for Zhao to simply side step the blast. The second blast came but Zhao side stepped it as well. Blast after blast Zhao either dodged Zuko's fire or managed to block off the blast. He fires another blast and Zhao just crosses his arms into an X and simply separates the blast. Zuko is panting, his eyes wide from Zhao's effortless defense.

Zuko wasn't at the top of his game. Lori could tell he was too distracted, most likely to focused on the Avatar, and not focused on the duel. His shots didn't have power, they were to slow, Zuko was exhausting himself with every blast, too soon into the fight. He had to get his head in the duel.

Zuko swung his leg and kicked another blast forward only once again for Zhao to block it, and then another kick shot, once again blocked. Zuko stopped attacking, breathing heavily, most likely tired himself out. Lori could see his eyes. They were exhausted. "Basics Zuko! Break his root!" Iroh shouted from beside her, but it didn't seem to get to her prince. He was to tired. Seeing the exhaustion in his eyes, Zhao smirked and finally decided to play offense.

With his stance solid and firm like an Earth bender, Zhao took a large step, thrusting his fist forward firing a powerful blast. Zuko managed to block the blast but he was pushed back. Zhao fired another blast, this time with both arms sending Zuko back further. His stance weakening with every block, Zuko was failing fast, to exhausted from his failed attacks. Another fire blast came and Zuko blocked it but once again was pushed backwards, his strength falling. Zhao took another step and sent another powerful combined fire blast. This time Zuko couldn't block it and was sent flying back, scrapping his back against the ground. He groaned in pain as he tried to get back up but was to exhausted from the fight. He looked up to see his uncle and Lori watching with much concern and worry. The look in Lori's scared him. He was losing this duel. He was going to lose this duel. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open from shock. When he turned back to his opponent, he saw in horror as Zhao leapt in the air with a war cry and landed right as his feet. He stood tall over the prince and with a sadistic joy in his eye, enjoying this moment that he was about to scar the banished prince.

Lori watched in horror when Zhao landed at Zuko's feet. She wanted to jump in and stop him, before she could Iroh grabbed her arm, preventing her from intervening. "Uncle please." She whispered.

"You know the rules Lori." He whispered back sternly. She stared at him with frightened eyes. She felt ashamed and useless knowing that she was powerless to do anything.

Zhao gave a laugh before leering back and fire a blast at Zuko's face. "No!" He heard Lori cry out from behind as the fire ball came toward him. The panic in his heart and the fear in her voice made him react with lightening fast reflex. He spun aside to avoid the blast and sweep Zhao's legs out from under him. As Zhao collapsed Zuko landed back on his feet. Now with a second wind he started again on offense.

 _Basics Zuko! Break his root!_ He remembered his uncles advice and began attacking at Zhao's feet. Zuko began kicking fire blasts at Zhao's feet. Zhao retreated but was able to steady himself due to Zuko's constant attacks. One blast after another, Zhao was pushed back to the opposite side of the arena until finally barely standing on his feet, Zuko kicked a blast at Zhao's chest throwing him back. Zhao rolled across the grounds groaning in pain. When he tried to get up he was met with the prince's fist to his face. The look in his eyes showed the level of disdain he had for the commander.

Lori watched from the back unable to breath, her voice caught in her throat and frozen in her spot. She wasn't sure how to feel about this. Zuko could beat Zhao right here right now, but what would that accomplish? "Do It!" She heard Zhao dare Zuko. Now feeling as though this would be to easy for him. This defeat wasn't enough, he deserved to suffer more then just this. Zuko took a single glance in her direction and then fired a blast right beside Zhao's head. Just barely grazing Zhao's eyepatch.

Zhao's eye narrowed now more with anger. His fists clenched at Zuko's refusal to finish him off. "Thats It!? Your father raised a cowered!" He shouted as Zuko relaxed and stood tall over him.

"Next time you get in my way I promise, I _won't_ hold back!" He said before turning around to return to his uncle and bodyguard. He saw smiles on their faces from his victory and a look of relief on Lori's. The look on her face was all he needed to know he did the right thing. Refusing to burn Zhao wasn't so much as a cowardice act, but an act of humiliation. It said he wasn't worth his time. And he wasn't, he knew Lori deserved to beat Zhao more then himself.

As they approached to congratulate him, Zhao got back to his feet and prepared to step away. The anger raged inside from his humiliating defeat at the hands of the banished prince, he spun around kicking his leg shooting a blast of fire at the prince when he had his back turned. Before Zuko could be struck down Lori intercepted the blast extending her gauntleted hand and grabbing his foot, snuffing the flame. Zhao cried out in pain as Lori squeezed his foot more before throwing him back. Zhao landed on the arena floor groaning in pain and grabbing his currently burning foot. Lori stood tall over him, the iron of her gauntlet glowing a dim orange glow from the fire, the source of his burned foot. He looked up with anger at the girl who stopped him. Both starring at each other with an equal amount of disgust in their eyes.

Having seen what just had happened Zuko turned around and lunged forward wanting to retaliate but Lori stopped him with a single hand on his chest. "Don't." She told him with a firm voice. Zuko starred at Zhao with anger, but then looked to his bodyguard with her hand planted firmly on his chest. She carried a stern look in her eye. They then both turned to the defeated Commander, both with a look of disgust. "He's not worth it." She said. Zuko's anger began to subside.

Iroh finally approached them with a look of disappointment for Zhao. He scolds the Commander. "So, this how the great Commander Zhao reacts in defeat. Disgraceful. Even in exile, my nephew is more honorable than you." Those were big words coming from the retired General. "Thanks again for the tea, it was delicious." Were his parting words before he along with Zuko. Before leaving, Lori gave one last look at the Commander still on the ground.

"Rabbit." She called him before spitting on the ground and then turning away to join her elder and her prince. They walked out of the arena no longer restrained by Zhao's men.

"Did you really mean that uncle?" Zuko asked.

Iroh grinned at his nephews question. "Of course. I told you, Jinsing tea is my favorite." He said with a bigger grin on his face.

Zuko stopped and was left baffled as he watched his uncle continue walking down the walkway. Lori stopped along with him, a knowing smirk on her face that she was aware that Iroh was just having fun with him. "He is right though." She said.

"What about the tea?"

"No." Zuko turned to her. Seeing the smile on his face made him raise an eyebrow. "You are more honorable then him. You always will be." She said with a genuine smile, which made him smile as well. She reached up put a hand on his shoulder but he jumped back from her still glow hot gauntlet.

"Hey! Watch it!" He cried out. "I just won an Agni Kai I don't wanna get burned!"

Lori starred at her gauntlet, the iron still glowing orange. It was most definitely hot, she could feel it through the glove around her hand. "Come on its fine. It just a tad warm." She said reaching out again. Zuko jumped back again.

"Stop! Get away!" He shouted now getting more defensive. He took steps away from her just as a precaution, but she started chasing him around. "Leave me alone!"

"Come on Zuko." She said chasing him around. "I'm happy for you, just come here."

"No! Stop It!" He said.

Iroh stopped and watched them as the two teens they ran passed him, Zuko running away and Lori chasing him around with her arm stretched out at him, trying to tag him. "No stop it! get away!" He heard him call out as Zuko continued evading her.

"Come on Zuko let me touch you!" She called out as she continued chasing him around.

Iroh just simply laughed at the two, being reminded of when they were children.


	6. An Old Face

The high from Zuko's victory had passed relatively quickly. An hour or so since the Agni Kai, repairs on the ship had been complete. The dull, morbid mood from before they arrived here returned. Zuko was already dressed in his royal armor when he returned to the tent he occupied along with his uncle and Lori. The rest of his crew were already on the way to the ship, albeit begrudgingly, all that was left was some last minute details on restocking their supply, which Zhao had failed to handle. Unsurprising.

"So Zhao forgot to handle our supply situation. Shocking really." Lori said in a sarcastic, deadpan tone. She walked beside her Prince as they walked to where the retired general was waiting for them with a quick stride. They hopped that walking there faster would some how make the time here in the harbor shorter. "How long do you think this is going to take?" She asked.

"Believe me, I want to leave just as much as you do, but we can't get very far without supplies." Zuko explained which made Lori groan, upset. They made a turn past the guard barracks and toward the hut where the Harbormaster was stationed. "Besides I know how much you love Moon Peaches."

Lori's eyebrow twitched upward and she cocked her head slightly giving an affirmative hum. "I do love Moon Peaches. But I can live without them for awhile, if it means getting out of here." She argued.

Zuko scoffed and a smirk appeared on his face. "Last time I forgot about you damn Moon Peaches, you complained about it for a month. I have enough headaches to deal with without you giving me one. Never again." he joked. Lori chuckled and then shoved him in response. "It won't take long, an hour at most."

Lori groaned and stopped just as they arrived at the harbormasters hut. "As much I'd love to deal with that, I'd rather take a walk."

Not really wanting to get involved in the tediousness of paperwork, Lori walked away before Zuko could say anything else. She heard him give a warning about not getting into to trouble which she just waved off. She took a stroll around the Naval Base taking in the sights and sounds for however longer they'll be staying. She saw some of the crew leaving the pubs and brothels and on their way back to the ship. She noticed one of the men, known famously on the ship as Three-Finger-Fin, tried to bring a girl along with him but she refused, pulling away and returning to the brothel, much to Fin's dismay. Lori just shook her head and continued walking. she watched the girl return, approaching a man waiting behind the building who then grabbed her rather forcefully and then escorted her back inside.

It reminded her of what had occurred earlier that day, before they showed up at Zhao's tent. A young woman approached her. Hysterical when she first approached her and claiming to have known her, but Lori wasn't sure how or from where. She wanted to learn.

After asking, a guard managed to point her in the direction of the slave pens where she found an assortment of captured prisoners from all across the Earth Kingdom, some of them even Fire Nation, the Fire Nation didn't discriminate when it came to slaves. She remembered half of the staff in the royal palace were slaves of the Fire Nation. Here in the Slave pens were some men and boys, but mostly women and girls. Some were sold to work in mines and factories, others to simply work as servants, and some as concubines for their masters personal use. It made her disgusted, but its not like she could do anything about it.

She saw many faces walking through the pens all with the same tired and hopeless look on their faces. Their were mostly women and girls here, unsurprising. Some averted their gazes most likely out of fear while some kept their eyes on her either from shock or loathing. "A water tribe savage?" She heard one girl call from a cage. She turned in the direction of the voice and saw a Fire Nation girl, maybe a year or two older then herself, inside a cage and starring at her with malice. Shackles secured to her ankles which were locked in the cage so she couldn't escape She had a blanket draped over her shoulders clutching onto it tightly. "Why are you walking free while I'm trapped in here? Who did you sleep with to gain your freedom!?" Lori approached the girl her eyes narrowed on her with disdain. "This isn't fair! I should be out there and you should be in here!" She shouted with tears streaming down her face.

Lori slammed her gauntleted hand into the cage, rattling the girl. She smirked from the irony. "Ironic isn't it? I was never a slave, yet here you are ready to be sold off."

The girl spat in her face with disgust. Lori wiped off the smirk along with the spit on her face. She was never one to be high and mighty but this, this act of disrespect when she was clearly of higher standing compared to this girl just would not do. Plus she was a total bitch. She slapped her with the back of her gauntlet. The girl fell back into her cage floor, her cheek now pulsing red from the hard iron smacking her face and her lip split. The blanket fell and Lori saw she was half naked, with all sort of scars and burns across her body. Still in pain from the slap, girl still reached out grabbing the blanket wanting to cover herself and hide from the eyes around her. She had been used thrown around as a concubine for whoever could afford her only to be sold once again once they were done with her. Lori lost her smirk seeing the pathetic state of the girl, realizing that most likely her parents sold her off as part of some debt, or to save themselves from threats against some Fire Nation General. She turned around and walked away not liking the sense of pity that was coming up.

As she was once again perusing the pens she finally found who she was looking for. She heard the scream of the woman a little ways out of the pens and followed the sound. "Quit squirming bitch!" She heard a guard shout. She moved faster and saw the guard throw the woman to the ground in a fit of rage. "This ought to teach you!" He stated creating a fire whip, cracking it against the ground.

"Please, I'm sorry!" The woman pleaded with her hand stretched out and begging for mercy. The guard grabbed her arm and pushed it aside, and violently tore her shirt to expose her bare back. "Please don't." She begged.

The guard swung back and slammed the fire whip hard striking the woman's back. Her agonizing scream pierced Lori's ears. The guard struck her two more times, each time the woman screams were louder and more painful then before. With a brief break the woman curled into a ball and cried, her wounds festering and steaming. "You learned your lesson now?" The guard asked. The woman sobbed but nodded for an answer. The sadistic smirk appearing on his face from delight, but his fire whip didn't disappear. "I'm glad to hear it." He said and walked forward grabbing the woman's hair and pulling her up so she would face him. "I want you remember so you don't misbehave again!" He threw her to the ground raised his arm to strike the woman again. Before he could bring his arm down Lori grabbed the guards wrist and stopping him from striking the woman again. Her intervention caught the guard by surprise, and he wasn't ready when she twisted his arm and threw him to the ground. He groaned and clutched his wrist in pain.

"Whats going on here!?" Said Slave Master as he approached the situation. The slave sobbing and curled into a ball, one of his guards on the ground in pain and then Lori, standing over both of them. "Warrant Officer. Whats going on?" he asked again more calm, recognizing her status.

Lori didn't answer his question, just gestured to the woman who finally dared to peek at her savior. When she saw it was her she was left in surprise. "Treat her wounds and get her cleaned up. She'll be coming with us." She stated firmly.

The Slave Master turned to the woman and the ground and then back to her with a confused look on her face. After a second of deliberating he finally nodded. "Yes ma'am." He said before ordering his man back up and walking over to the woman and getting her on her feet to be taken away. "I'm sure you know the transaction..."

Lori interrupted "I'm well aware yes. My uncle will take of it." She said to the Slave Master and he walked away.

The woman while being led away by the guards turned around to face Lori again with a shocked expression on her face. Lori did remember her.

* * *

 _Weeks had passed since she was taken from her home. Lori was curled up in the farthest corner of her cell hugging her knees close to her chest. The Fire Benders took away her coat when they first grabbed her and she was left freezing in this cold cell. The freezing cold steel of the ships walls made her shiver. She wish she could just curl up in a blanket and sleep away this scary dream. She wish when she woke up her mommy and daddy would be there to hold her and tell her it was all just a dream. But it wasn't a dream._

 _She whimpered in the dark, dry tear streaks on her cheeks now frozen to her face from crying so much. She heard a groan from somewhere in this dark as she looked up to see another girl clutching a blanket moving toward her cell. "Hey quiet!" She said out loud. Lori curled up more afraid of what this girl could be capable of. She was older then her maybe seven or eight, wearing patchwork clothes which she saw under her blanket. She was wearing an eyepatch under over her left eye and had a butterfly tattoo on her left cheek. "All you do is cry, and I'm tired of it."_

 _Lori whimpered looking away from this scary girl. "I want to go home." She whimpered out._

 _"To bad!" The girl said. She walked up to the cell and grasping at the metal bars, having gotten sick and tired of this girl crying every day. "We all wish we could go home instead of being stuck here and waiting to be sold off!"_

 _"Don't be mean Min. She's little and just scared." Another girl said from the dark Lori couldn't tell who it was. All the others were still sleeping or at least trying to sleep._

 _"Then she ought to get used to it! I haven't seen home in over a year, and have been thrown around ship to ship, am I still crying about!?" She responded to the other girl her remained silent. This girl, Min, turned back to Lori who was now looking at her with wide eyes. "You want my advice, you better learn to stop crying, Now! No ones going to care that your sad and want to go home. You nothing anymore, just a **slave** like the rest of us!"_

 _Slave. That word made Lori's eyes widen even more. Why was she a slave? Why would they take her away from home only to sell off? She was only four years old, what use could she be? "A slave?" She asked as though she couldn't comprehend the concept._

 _"Yeah. A slave! As an forced to work for people or they'll hurt you. Real bad! In more ways then one. And sometimes they'll just hurt you because they want to and because they like hurting you." Min kept bagging on the different horrors that come from being a Fire Nation slave, frightening Lori even more with every word. Min slowly began to cry with every word becoming prevalent that almost everything she had said she had experienced first hand. Including the things that happened to slaves in their masters bedrooms. "I'm not sure what they'd want with a four year old, but there a lot of sickos out there. I was just seven but it didn't stop that Captain from-"_

 _Min was quickly interrupted when they all heard the cranks of the door unlatch and the door slowly creak open. In walked an older girl, maybe thirteen or fourteen draped in a Fire Nation red cloak with a small basket. She quickly latched the door shut before turning back to the girls and pulling her hood down. "Min! What have I told you about scaring her!?" She said with a sharp authoritative tone. Min turned around and went back to her corner of the room._

 _The older girl kneeled down in the center of the room and removed a blanket from the basket revealing a collection of fruit which she managed to smuggle out for them. All the other girls quickly stood up and walked over to get their share off food. Their were a total of eight girls including Lori in this room, all of them were cold and hungry and chewed on their fruit greedily, trying to savor their small meal. Lori was the only one who stayed in her corner, to afraid to move an inch from the story she had been told, her face buried in her knees._

 _The older girl stood up and walked over to her kneeling down to her. "Hey there." she spoke softly and kindly. Lori dared to look up with watery eyes from crying and saw the older girl with a kind and caring smile. She handed her a moon peach. "Are you hungry?" She asked sweetly. After a second Lori slowly reached out and took the moon peach slowly taking bites from the unfamiliar fruit. "My names Su. Whats yours?" She asked._

 _Lori put her head down not wanting to answer, still afraid of the people around her. But this girl was being kind to her. She reminded her of her mother. After a second she finally found the courage to speak. "Lowi." She said in a soft voice._ _She wrapped her free arm around her feeling a shiver coming up._

 _"Your cold aren't you?" Su asked. Lori slowly looked up and slowly nodded. Su turned around and grabbed the blanket and draped it over her shoulders an almost a motherly fashion. "Don't worry. It'll be okay"_

 _Lori looked up to Su again. Through the dim light she could see she had a black eye and several bruises along her arms. Remembering what Min had told her before, Lori asked silently. "Do they take you to the bedwoom?" She asked. Su's face dropped and went pale. Suddenly feeling more self conscious about her bruises she readjusted her cloak to keep them from view. Lori was too young, she had no reason knowing why soldiers would take the slaves to their rooms. She blamed Min for this. "Will they make me go to the bedwoom." Her blood went cold when she asked._

 _Su gently put her hands on her shoulders and gave a reassuring smile. "It'll all be okay. You won't have to worry._ _"_

* * *

Her name was Su. She was a servant on board that Fire Nation Frigate, and the only person who kept her sane. She took care of all of them on board that ship for the first couple weeks she was there after she was first taken, ten years ago. She gave her a blanket once.

Lori watched from the outside the slave pens, the guards escorting Su toward their ship. She was now wearing a Fire Nation red dress and cloak with a hood on to keep her from gazing around, often trying to take a glance at her. She felt Iroh's hand on her shoulder as he and Zuko approached her after completing the transaction. "I am glad to welcome a new face on board." Iroh said with a smile. The three all began to slowly make their way toward their ship. "I am looking forward to meeting your friend."

"She's not my friend." Lori stated flatly, causing both Zuko and Iroh to both falter in their step. Her statement wiped Iroh's smile from his face and replaced it with a sad expression. No longer questioning her, he proceeded to make his way toward the ship in silence. Zuko quickly caught up with Lori, searching for any sign on of concern for this slave. He found non, she just seemed indifferent. She was aware of her Prince's staring, but right now she didn't need him looking over her shoulder. "I know that look Zuko. I don't need you worrying about me."

"Well you just had Uncle acquire a slave, who seems to know you but you don't know her. Why wouldn't I be concerned."

"I _do_ knew her." She replied. "I remember her. Back when I was taken she took care of us."

"So she is a friend then?"

"No." She stated, again flatly. "She helped me. I'm just repaying a debt in kind."

They said nothing more and continued their way to the ship in silence. From the corner of her eye she could see the girl from before, the one who spat in her face being taken out of her cage by a guard. She tried her best to fight back to get away but she was too weak. The guard then handed her over to another soldier, a Captain from the crest on his lapel, who seemed to have a smile on his face. His eyes scanned her head to toe taking in his new purchase. Lori could see the tears falling down the girls face, both of them knowing full well what the Captain was looking forward to have his fun with his new prize. As they walked away, the girls eyes locked on with hers and the scared look was replaced with anger with a look that read, _It should be you_. Lori turned away and proceeded to their ship.

Upon arriving Iroh was waiting for them at the top of the ramp already welcoming the new addition to the ship with a big, kind smile on his face. It didn't change Su's expression of worry and fear, in fact she was more scared now then she ever was before. Iroh maintained his smile, more so for her reassurance as Lieutenant Jee walked her up the ramp. He then turned his attention to Zuko and Lori as they approached. "She still seems a bit nervous." He voiced his concern.

"She's been a slave for most of her life. Most likely she's afraid that she's now in service of the Fire Nation Prince and the Dragon of the West." Lori said. "It honestly seems logical for a person in her position. Of course she doesn't know you like I do." Her final comment returned Iroh's smile. She followed her Elder and her Prince up the ramp, breathing a sigh of relief as she entered the ship and the ramp began to rise, finally glad to leave Zhao and his Naval Base.

* * *

As per her request, Iroh had the crew gather on the main deck so that she could make an announcement with regards to the newest addition to the ship. She'd been traveling with these men for a number a of years now, being the only female on board, so she was confident that they could behave themselves. "Gentlemen! Listen closely! This is here is Su." She gestured toward the new face. Su stood with head bowed not wanting to look at the potentially hungry looks on the mens faces. She wore a long fitted Fire Nation dress and similar cloak with a pair of brass cuffs to signify her status as a servant. "She will be serving on board this ship for the remainder of our journey. She will be responsible for cleaning, serving, and helping in the Mess Hall. She is meant to do chores around the ship, ONLY! She is NOT, here to serve as a concubine for your personal needs!" She emphasizes, starring exclusively at Three-Finger-Fin and soon all eyes are on him.

"Why is everyone looking at me?" he asks not liking the sudden attention he was receiving from the crew. He was the main reason she called for this meeting. Sometimes these men (specifically Three-Finger-Fin) need to be reminded that their to be on their best behavior.

Lori continues her speech. "If you have any concerns, regarding Su, you may share them with me or General Iroh and we will handle it accordingly. IF, however, I hear anything about her not being treated correctly onboard by the crew, well... use Fin as a reference." She states firmly. All of the men suddenly take steps back and are caressing and massaging their hands and fingers as though they were the most precious things in the world to them. The last thing they wanted was to lose fingers like Three-Finger-Fin. "Any questions? No? Good." She says and then takes a step back for her Prince to step forward.

"Alright then. Our time at Zhao's Naval Base has set us back several hours, which means we need to make up for all that lost time. I expect you all to remain vigilant and focused on your jobs. Its only a matter of time before the Avatar is in our hands again! Dismissed!" Zuko calls, and the crew turn to return to their duties.

Once they were free from Zhao's grasp, the hunt for the Avatar was back on. Zuko was quick to return to the bridge looking over maps to figure out where the Avatar was heading and then to figure out their next course of action. The only ones that remained on deck now were Iroh, Lori, and Su. Su was uncomfortable about all of this keeping her eyes to the floor only occasionally looking up to Lori, still finding it unbelievable that this girl who commanded these Fire Nation men, twice her age, was the same scared little girl from ten years ago. After a long moment Su finally found the courage to approach Lori.

"I don't understand." She called as she slowly approached closer. Lori turned to her giving her full attention. "What are you doing? How are you... here? You were so young and scared out of your mind. Last I heard you were being directly sent to the Fire Lord." She asked.

"Well as it turned out those soldiers were wrong to do so. And as you can see I no longer have a reason to be afraid. These men listen to me and respect me." She said calmly and turned around to join Zuko on the bridge, but before she could walk inside, Su grabbed her shoulder.

"But wait. Then why are you here?" She asked her, almost upset. "How can these men respect you? Your just a slave like me." What she said made Lori's anger rise. Calling her a slave, that was something she never was. "What, do you warm wait for the Prince in his bedroom?"

Lori raised a threatening finger to her. "Don't you call me a slave, and I am no ones whore! You better watch yourself. I saved you from a worse fate. I saved you a way to repay you for your kindness all those years ago so I expect you to show some respect!" She said and continued walking away but Su wasn't trough yet, following her into the ship through the door.

"Respect!? You think bringing me on board this ship with these Fire Nation scum is saving me? This ship belongs to the Banished Prince and the Dragon of the West! Whatever sway you believe you have, your powerless against those two monsters! They won't listen to you your nothing more then a sla-"

She was interrupted when Lori whipped around and backhanded her with the her gauntlet. Su collapsed into the wall and sunk to the floor. Her cheek red and pulsing in pain from the iron gauntlet hitting her hard. Lori looked down on her with anger in her eyes and thats when Su finally saw her eyes. Her once deep blue eyes were now cold and empty. Dead eyes, no longer filled with the youth of that child from ten years ago. What did these men do to her. "You better watch mouth!" Lori Whispered with such malice. "You better show your respect to Prince Zuko and General Iroh, or else things will not be pretty for you! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!" She shouted and Su nearly jumped from the cry.

"I'm sorry." Su apologized.

"You will be if you act up again." Lori said finally pulling back. It was then Iroh finally entered, hearing the shout from Lori's outburst. By Su had gotten back to her feet and was looking down again not wanting to look at Lori or the General in the eyes. "Uncle, will you please show Su to her quarters. I'm sure she would like to rest after today."

Iroh kept a calm expression and simply agreed. "Of course. Calm along dear." He said kindly leading Su down to the lower levels where he room would be. Separated from the rest of the men obviously. Su turned back to see Lori's angry eyes narrowed in her direction. What happened to her? What did these horrible men do to her to make her so vile. Whatever the case, he was no going to be living with them for who nows how long. and now it was obvious that she was without friends. Her life was in her hands now.


	7. Back at Sea

Four days had passed since they left Zhao's Naval Base. Three days of open seas and nothing else. After their encounter with Zhao, Prince Zuko and Lori wanted to avoid stopping as much as possible, much to disappointment of the crew. Zuko could care less what the crew wanted, all that mattered to him was the Avatar.

Su's new life on board the ship took some time to readjust. She hadn't been on a Fire Nation ship in four years and with new faces came a new sense of uncertainty. Every face she saw walking down the filled her with dread and fear of their true intentions. Wether they were watching her with suspicion or with hungry eyes she wasn't sure.

Her cloak became her only safe haven when outside her room. Whenever a member of the crew walked by she would avoid their gaze not wanting to find the answer to her question, instead simply lowering her head and walking silently.

But when the General or the Prince himself was walking past she would always freeze in place from terror. She would quickly compose her self and stand still with her hood up and her head down to avoid their eyes and letting them pass and hoping they wouldn't yell or harm her. They never did but she still feared them.

The General was who she should have feared the most. The Fire Lords brother, The Dragon of the West, his exploits in the war were legendary, until his retreat in Ba Sing Se. Still though, Iroh was a man who she was meant to fear, which was why it surprised her the way she treated her. From all the tales she heard of him of his power and ruthlessness on the battlefield, she never expected him to be so kind. He was very welcoming of her and spoke to her with such kindness despite her being a slave and an Earth Kingdom girl. However that didn't stop her from being cautious around him. She had first hand experience what it meant when a master took a liking to you. But Iroh seemed different. She wanted to believe that.

Right now he was teaching her how to make tea the way he liked it. She tried and failed several, several times, but he never once snapped at her. Despite that she still feared the waiting lashing she was expecting for when she failed for the last time. Her hands shook from the thought, the tea cup clattering on the saucer as she served the tea to Iroh. He was quick to notice. "It's okay to make mistakes, so long as you learn from them." He said kindly as he discarded another failed attempt at Ginseng tea. She tried another batch, this time step by step the way he taught her. Her hands no longer shaking, and moved with confidence as she served a seventh batch. By the look on the Generals face it was the worst one yet as his eyes snapped open, one twitching, and he swallowed hard the God awful taste. "Ack, Ah yes. That was uh, that was... bracing." He cringed as he discarded the brew. Maybe Ginseng was to complicated for Su. "Perhaps we should try something else. Do you like Jasmine tea?" Iroh proposed.

She did like Jasmine Tea, however making it was whole different story. She tried three pots, all of them were failures. The first tasted too bitter, the second was burnt and the third, "It just... tastes like water." Iroh said. Sure enough when she looked in the pot, it _was_ just water. She forgot to add the tea. She slapped her forehead for her stupidity. "It is alright dear."

Fourth time was sure to be the charm. This time she made sure to do it right. "I hope this is okay." She poured the cup and handed it to Iroh. He gave a small whiff before taking a sip. She held a breath as he drank the tea. After his lips parted from the rim of the cup he gave a satisfied sigh.

"Now that is a nice cup of Jasmine Tea." he said before taking another sip. It was good. Certainly nothing compared to Iroh's but still good. "You certainly have talent for Jasmine Tea dear." He said kindly.

Su managed a soft smile and bowed. "Thank you General Iroh." She said softly.

"In fact, I believe the rest of the crew would enjoy this as well." he said as he lifted the pot and made his way out of the kitchen

"Re, rest of the crew?" Su was caught off guard by this. She wasn't expecting for the General to want to share her tea. Truth be told she didn't like the idea of be surrounded by those men, even with him around. However it wasn't her place to question her superior. "Um I, I'm sure the rest of the crew are rather busy at the moment." She said as she followed trying to dissuade him from leaving.

"Non sense. Its still an hour until noon." He said as though this was common knowledge. "And its the sixth day of the week. Everyone will be on the main deck." He said waiting by the doorway and not leaving any room for an argument. She cautiously followed behind him. At least he wasn't taking her to his private quarters.

* * *

She could hear the sound of swords clashing before she even made it to the door. Iroh wasn't kidding, upon arriving on the main deck she saw everyone was here watching the sight with amazement. Prince Zuko and Lori were dueling each with a pair of duel broadswords. To the untrained eye they seemed evenly matched.

The first thing her eyes went to was Lori. Before now she had only seen her in her armor, but now she wore a dark crimson tight fitting sleeveless tank top which showed off her toned arms and midriff and a pair of fairly prominent breasts and a pair loose pants rolled up to her shins. But what stuck out the most was her right arm completely wrapped in bandages from her fingers to her shoulder. She hadn't seen Lori without her armor so she didn't know that she had an injury. However by the way she moved and fought, she didn't seem to be in pain, or at least didn't show it.

"I wasn't aware she had been injured. What happened to her?" She asked the general. He simply closed his eyes and gave a sad sigh.

"That is not my story to tell." He said in a melancholy tone. Su didn't bring it up again.

Zuko leapt back as Lori swung her sword downward. She just as quickly swung it back up keeping her Prince at bay. She brought her other sword and thrusted it forward but Zuko managed to evade it and swung for her arm but she caught it with her other sword. Both swords were locked and face to face panting rapidly.

"Getting tired?" Zuko mocked through each breath with a smirk.

"I'm not getting tired." She managed to pant out. "Your getting tired." She retorted. She slightly pulled back and swung her other sword, aiming for his head. He ducked, dodging it and brought his second sword to use his full force to push her back. She staggered from being thrown back but she was still standing.

Zuko leapt forward swinging both his swords downward. Lori crossed her swords to block the strike at the perfect time. She hopped onto Zuko's knee and backflipped off, kicking him in the chest.

As Zuko staggered Lori found her opportunity to strike. She bolted forward swinging her swords in quick succession causing Zuko to have to block not giving him time compose himself. She flipped her right sword upside down and swung for a downward thrust. Zuko saw his opening. He clashed his sword with her sword guard and pulled hard, forcing her to lurch forward and then clotheslined her with his forearm. She collapsed to the ground defeated and groaning from the pain.

Some of the crew cringed and groaned from the strike. That looked like it hurt. Even Su kinda winced when she hit the floor hard. "She's does this all the time." Iroh reasoned, but he still felt pity for her. "By the way, Su made a lovely pot of Jasmine tea everyone." he told the men with much enthusiasm.

The crew began to motion towards wanting some of the aforementioned tea. Su felt nervous as the surrounding men walked towards them. She could only find comfort in they non of them were starring at her. "She made tea?" Lt. Jee asked as he was poured a cup and took a sip. He hummed with satisfaction. "Hmm, not bad." He said. Other crew members shared the sentiment.

"Oh something tasty." Three Finger Fin came around padding her butt as he waited for his turned to be served.

Su nearly leapt at the sudden invasion of privacy, standing stiff and heart racing as he caressed her butt. After she composed herself, she nervously poured a cup and handed it to him, not making eye contact. He gratefully accepted his cup. "Thank you gorgeous." He said and walked away, but not before giving her butt a squeeze. She clenches herself feeling sick from being molested. She looks up and watches as Three Finger Fin returns to his previous spot and is then assaulted with smack to the back of the head.

"Ow!" He exclaims to the Lieutenant. "What the hell!"

"You were told to watch yourself." said Lieutenant Jee. He guessed he saw him. "The Warrant Officer told you!"

"Come on Jee. I was just-"

"-Just nothing! Your already useless with just three fingers. This time she'll take your whole hand, and then we'll have to come up with another name for you." Jee finished. "Can't be _Three Finger Fin_ without three fingers."

"Okay I'm done." He exclaimed. "Honest. I swear."

"I don't know, _One Hand Stan_ has a nice ring to it."

"Shut up."

Su heard them bicker, but she didn't look at them. Things were strange on this boat. So far he had been the first, to try anything on her, and was immediately reprimanded for it with the mention of Lori. Maybe she actually did have some sway on these men, which was once again odd since she was young, the youngest on the ship and was Water Tribe, enemy of the Fire Nation. She couldn't keep up with all of this, instead she chose to look out to the sea which had surrounded them for the past four days. Thats when she noticed a red bird in the sky and stopping by the bridge. She wished she could just fly away from her life just like that bird.

* * *

"You keep leaving your right side open." Zuko said through panting breath as Lori stood back up. "You need to watch your flanks."

Lori groaned as she got back to feet and took this break to catch her breath. "You said the same thing about my left last week." She managed as she rested on the ships railing. "In fact you mentioned my right the week before too."

"I wouldn't have to if you would just cover your flank. You have to remember your not as tall or strong as these men." Zuko coached.

"Wow thanks for the words of encouragement Zuko." She mocked in a sarcastic tone. She tried her best to look at his eyes and not his body. She swore he insisted on training shirtless as a means to distract her with his fit and tone biceps and chest. If it was then it worked, about sixty percent of the time.

He groaned. He hated when she did that to him. To others was fine (especially Zhao), but to him he couldn't stand it. "What I mean is you need to use your own strengths against your opponent. Your shorter, faster, and more agile. Use that to your advantage instead of just using force." He said and then brought his swords up. After another moment she took a deep breath and raised her swords as well. "Don't hit hard, hit fast, like before. You nearly had me that time."

A moment past, both combatants waiting for the other to make the first move. Zuko struck first charging forward and swinging his sword down. Lori spun out of the way, swung her sword to strike Zuko on the side, but he blocked it with his second sword. He brought his other sword but held on to her using his weight to pull her in and throw her to the ground. She skidded but rebounded on her knees. When she looked up Zuko was already charging at her and leaping and swinging both his swords in a downward spiral. She narrowly missed him but he kept pressing on her attacking before she could get back to her feet. He struck again, swinging his swords in a wide arc and she raised her swords to block, the clash making her hands vibrate and nearly drop her weapons. Exhausted she could barely keep her swords up as Zuko kept striking with her barely able to keep up. Finally Zuko spun around swinging his swords together in a powerful strike. The collision forced Lori reeling back and Zuko finished off with a roundhouse kick. Lori was thrown back and forced back on her knees panting heavily.

"Come on! Is that all you got!" Zuko mocked. Lori snapped her head up, panting now snarling with anger. She slowly began to rise up back to her feet feeling her second wind. "Thats right use that anger." Zuko advised

Lori cried out and charged at Zuko, jumping and kicking him hard, square in the chest sending him back. Before he could come back she charged forward swing her sword to strike which he was quick to block but she immediately followed it with her other sword. Zuko managed to block the next, but just barely. She was striking fast and hard, one after another after another. She would swing her sword, swing her second and then spin and come around with a swing again. She finally ended her flurry by spinning around and bring both swords down on Zuko. The clash forced Zuko to the floor on his back. She leapt forward and landed on top of him with her swords crossed on his neck. She was panting hard but she still smirked with victory. "I win." She said confidently through heavy breaths.

Zuko only smirked from her ignorance. Lori lost her smile when she saw his, realizing her mistake. She scoffed annoyed and looked down seeing Zuko's swords up to her neck too. "Damn it." She grunted, annoyed that she got too ahead of herself and didn't catch this. She huffed annoyed. "We'll call it a draw." She said.

"Its a draw then." Zuko agreed. She stood back up, extending her hand to help her Prince back to his feet.

The crowd began to applaud them as they approached them, however Su was in shock seeing Lori mercilessly attack the Prince with such anger and fury. What happened to her ten years ago?

The two teens walked towards the buckets of water and rags waiting for them to cool off with. They both picked up the rags and wiped off the sweat off their faces. They both sighed from the wet rag, the cool water soothing their aches. "You did good." Zuko said. "You did better when you were angry. You ought to utilize it more." He advised.

"Yes, anger is a powerful tool." Iroh said bringing everyones attention to him. "It is something that every Fire bender has been taught. Rage can be a powerful weapon, but it can also be dangerous. You must learn to control your anger, and not allow it to control you. This is a tenant that even master Fire benders have yet to learn."

They allowed the wisdom to wash over them for the moment. Lori always took her elders wisdom to heart. Its really whats kept her strong all these years. "I'll be sure to remember that Uncle." She said. Iroh smiled delightedly. Lori took the bucket and drenched herself in the cool water, all the aches suddenly relaxing as the water slithered down her body. Three Finger Fin couldn't help but notice and appreciate her fine and lean body. Lieutenant Jee once again smacked him in the back of the head.

"Ow!" He silently exclaimed.

"Your really going to pull that again." Jee scolded again. "After what happened last time."

"I didn't do anything." He claimed.

"Really?" Lori called out. "Don't think I didn't notice that moved you pulled on Su." She outed him all eyes on him now as he awkwardly sipped on his tea as he took two steps back away from the group.

"Alright." Zuko called grabbing the attention of his bodyguard. "Break times over." Lori took one last sip of her tea before returning the cup to her elder before picking up her swords and returning to her Prince's side a good few feet away from the group to continue their training. Lori twirled her sword ready for todays lesson, Zuko had been training her since they were kids.

It was after this that the group was joined by the nervous looking Helmsman. With message in hand he cautiously approached the Prince and his bodyguard knowing that when they read the message they wouldn't be happy.

"Uh, ma'am, this just arrived." He said and handed her the message "Although, I believe it might have been a mistake." He added and bowed before taking a step back.

Lori raised an eyebrow at the nervous Helmsman but didn't bother with it. She unrolled the message and began to read, her uninterested expression turning into an angry one as she read, her hands crunching the parchment as she grew angry.

"What is it?" Zuko asked. Lori didn't say anything just whipped the parchment toward him.

"I don't believe this!" She said under breath.

Zuko took the parchment unsure why she was upset. As his eyes scanned the message in his hands he began to figured out why as he too grew angry.

 _By order of Commander Zhao to all Fire Nation Personnel, any and all information regarding the whereabouts of the Avatar are to be directed to the Commander immediately. Secondary Priority is to prevent the traitorous Prince from apprehending the Avatar. Any deviation from these orders will be considered a crime against the Fire Nation and will be punished with extreme prejudice._

Zuko's anger flared and he burned the parchment in his hands turning it into ash. Zhao was now on the hunt for the Avatar and he going to use all his resources to get in his way. "Damn It!" Zuko shouted.

"What is it Prince Zuko?" Iroh asked his angered nephew, but he was to angry to answer.

"Its Zhao!" Lori answered with much venom when she spoke the name. He's trying to screw us over and is using half the Navy against us."

Without warning Zuko stomped his foot on the short table destroying it, Su panicked as he let out a terrifying cry. "Everyone get back to work!" Zuko ordered with fury. The crew all begrudgingly followed his order and returned to their duties. Su remained frozen in her terror, her mind yelling at her to move but her body to afraid to move. She was disobeying a direct order from the Prince of the Fire Nation, she was sure to be punished severely. Zuko starred at her dead in the eyes. "GO!" he shouted making her jump again. However Iroh gently led her away, asking her to return to the kitchen.

In all honesty Zuko was just letting his anger out and his crew were just caught in the middle. He couldn't be here right now. He didn't trust himself to not snap at others with the anger he was feeling. He walked back inside with Lori behind him.

* * *

A few hours had past since it happened. Within that time they had recently docked at a nearby neutral port for some extra supplies. Iroh insisted that it wouldn't take too long. Zuko honestly didn't care. Not with the situation they were now in that Zhao had created. He decided to retreat back into his room, hoping to find the answers he needed through meditation.

Lori as always stood guard by the door of his cabin, as was her duty as his bodyguard. She kept her eyes closed but she was completely aware of the area. She could feel the heat radiating from the room, her own breathing in rhythm to Zuko's. Breath in the diminished, breath out, the heat rose. In near perfect sync, it felt rather intoxicating. Between breaths she heard footsteps approaching from down the hall. They didn't sound loud and metal like one of the crew members and they didn't walk slowly and hesitate with fear, so it wasn't Su. "He's meditating Uncle." She said as her elder arrived. She opened her eyes and sure enough it was him.

"I have some news that he should know about." he said holding a rolled up map in hand.

"Maybe it'd be best if you came back later when he's calmed down." She advised however Iroh persisted.

"This is urgent." He simply said. Knowing she couldn't dissuade him any longer she opened the door for him and followed him in. Zuko was sitting on the floor of his darkened room in front of his desk with a set of candles in front of him. The flames rose and shrunk in tune with his breathing.

"The only reason you should be interrupting is if you have news about the Avatar." He said sternly.

"Well, there is news Prince Zuko, but you might not like it. Don't get too upset." Iroh said.

"Uncle, you said that keeping a level head is a sign of a great leader. Now whatever you have to say I can take it." He said more calmly this time. Lori was surprised, he was taking this surprisingly well.

"Okay then... we have no idea where he is." Or maybe not.

"What!" The flames from the candles rose with fury and scorched the ceiling as Zuko rose with anger.

Lori didn't really mind the sudden heat, her attention at the scorch marks on the ceiling. _I wonder whose gonna clean that._ She thought sarcastically until she suddenly remembered. _Oh yeah, Su._

"You really should open a window." Her elder said as he pulled a fan.

"Give me the map!" Zuko snatched the map from his hands.

"There have been multiple sightings of the Avatar, but he is impossible to track down."

Zuko studies the map, looking at the X's that designate his previous sightings. "How am I gonna find him Uncle. He ks clearly a master of evasive maneuvering." He keeps his eyes on the map, moving between each X trying to find the pattern for each. What made these stops significant, because to him it just seemed as though the Avatar was jumping randomly from place to place. Maybe there was no pattern. Maybe the Avatar was just sighting seeing. Seeing how the world was after one hundred years. Maybe thats exactly what that Avatar wanted him to think as a way to deceive him. Thats why they couldn't find him. Diabolical. He thrusted the map into his uncles hands. "Don't interrupt me until you have actual information about the Avatar." He said and returned to his candles.

Iroh just sighed and stepped out of the room, Lori following behind him. "I did try to warn you Uncle." She said. Iroh just let out a short laugh.

"Yes you did." He said before turning around and walking down the hall leaving Lori.

"He didn't mean it to be so rude." She called down to him." "He's just in a difficult situation."

Iroh didn't turn around as he continued walking down the hall. "I know." He called back before rounding the corner. "Dinner will be ready soon."

After her elder disappeared she turned back to the door, opening it and stepping inside. She didn't really care that Zuko specifically said to not be disturbed. "I just said-" Zuko began when she stepped inside.

"Don't get snippy! Its me." She said. Zuko turned to her and then back to his candles. "You shouldn't have gone off on him like that." She told him disapprovingly.

Zuko sighed lowering his head. "I know. I'm just upset. The Avatar is screwing with me, I know it. He's trying to get me to follow a wild goose chase." He said with anger, the candles flaring slightly. "I know he's been toying with me since the beginning."

Lori stood at the door with her arms crossed and shaking her head. "Your overing thinking it. You saw the map, he's jumping around from place to place."

"Thats exactly what he wants you to think." Zuko said back. Lori just sighed.

"Okay. You've been breathing the incense a little to long." She said and approached him gently putting a hand on his shoulder. "Come on. Take a walk with me, its a nice day." she said with a small smile. After a second of deliberating Zuko stood up and followed her out the door.

After they made it outside they began walking side by side in a comfortable silence. They remained like this for over an hour, just the two of them with nothing but the sounds of the sea. Walking proved to actually help him. Just the two of them walking on the deck helped him clear his head much to his surprise. Afterwards they rejoined Iroh for dinner to be served and the one who had the honor of doing so was Su.

Su was nervous. When she accompanied the ship chief Po to the market to get some extra supplies, they heard some pretty interesting news from the market vendor. And she was the one who was supposed tell Prince Zuko. After Po had handed the plate of steamed fish he shooed her to serve it to the Prince and to tell him the news. Upon arriving she froze in her place at seeing the royals and Lori. The memory of being smacked around by her still present in her mind. She currently sat there along with the royals, with a slight smiling while making idle chatter as though the previous events never happened.

With shaky hands she cautiously approached the table and gently placed the steamed fish on the table, still fearing that they will snap at any moment. "Um, P, Prince Zuko?" She announced and all eyes were on her now. she tried to speak but the words were stuck in her throat.

"What is it Su?" Lori asked. Su remained silent. She wasn't comfortable being here with them.

"Uh... I..." Su tried again but she couldn't find the words. Lori looked confused. Iroh just looked hungry. But Zuko, he was growing more impatient with each passing second. It was only a matter of time till he snapped at her again. She finally decided the kneel down and whisper it into the Prince's ear. The others had no idea what she was saying but then Zuko's eyes went wide and he jumped to his feet.

"The Avatar is on Kyoshi Island!" He announced making Lori jump to her feet with shock at the news. The expression on her face turning serious frighteningly fast. Zuko turned around to leave to get ready as did she. "Uncle ready the Rhinos! He's not getting away from me this time!"

"Are you going to finish that?" He asked pointing at the steaming fish.

Zuko returned snatching it from the table. "I was going to save it for later." He said before marching away. Iroh just sat there grumpy and with his arms crossed.


	8. Kyoshi: Ten Years in the Waiting

**Authors Notes:**

 **I'm sorry about the delay. Once again, life stuff had happened. Also this chapter got pretty good and I kinda got carried away.**

 **If ya'll were wondering about the previous chapter, in truth both that one and this one were meant to be one chapter, but then it kinda got too long and I decided to split them into two chapters which probably ended up being a good idea after finishing this one. It could also explain why the beginning of this chapter seems a bit rushed, but I've also been waiting for this to happen for a while.**

 **Anyway I've rambled enough. I hope ya'll enjoy.**

 **(I'm Texan, which is why I say " _ya'll_ " unironically.)**

* * *

Kyoshi Island wasn't to far from the port they were docked. It only took a few hours to arrive at there shores. By the time they arrived the sun was just beginning its setting. The ramp dropped and Zuko, along with Lori and a team of Fire Benders rode on a pack of Komodo Rhinos. Lori with her Owl mask fastened to her face, hoped off her rhino and proceeded to travel on foot. "Stay on alert." Zuko said. Lori nodded and made her way through the woods.

She slowly creeped through the woods, trying her best to remain in the shadows. She knew the Kyoshi Warriors were proficient in stealth and combat. She had to be better. She climbed up a tree to get a better vantage point of the village. It seemed almost abandoned as Zuko and his team entered the town. Most likely the villagers were in hiding, buy then she saw movement. A flash of green as one of the warriors ran past an alley avoiding detection from Zuko. Another then ran across the field behind them unseen and another had reached the roof of one of the houses. An ambush.

She was about to warn them when she spotted two warriors running by a house and stopping right below her. She smirked behind her mask as she leapt down onto them, slamming her gauntleted fist into one of them, dropping her instantly. The second warrior jumped back in shock as she saw her partner get taken down by the mystery assailant. Before she could retaliate or call for help, Lori charged at her, pinning her against the wall and punching her in the throat so she couldn't scream. She then wrapped her hand around her neck, her eyes going wide as Lori began to strangle her. She tried to cry out for help but couldn't, her grip on her neck to tight. She tried to push her off, but she was to strong. Her struggle began to falter as the girl began to slowly lose consciousness.

"Shhhh, shh shh." Lori soothed as she watched the girl slowly begin blackout. She grabbed her head and then slammed it into the wall of the house. She was running out of time. She quickly climbed up to the roof of the house seeing her Prince and his Fire Benders in the center of town just as she saw the other warriors about to strike. "AMBUSH!" She shouted just as the Kyoshi warriors leapt off the roofs and attacked.

The Fire Benders are all taken down by the surprise attack leaving Zuko the only one left. One warrior charged at Zuko and leapt in the air about to take him out but was swatted away by the tail of the rhino. The leader of the warriors, by the headdress she wore, went in for a surprise attack while Zuko was distracted. However Lori took her crossbow and fired a bolt hitting the leader in the shoulder. She gave a cry of pain as she crashed into the ground. Zuko shot a fire blast at her but it was deflected by another warrior with their war fan. Before Zuko could strike again he was quickly ambushed by two other warriors giving their leader time to flee.

"I guess trainings over then." Lori hears Sokka's voice come from the other warriors mouth. She realizes its Sokka dressed as the a Kyoshi warrior. She doesn't have time to think about as she jumps into attack them. Right as she reaches them Sokka sees her and quickly grabs his fan to defend. "Suki look out!" He shouts as he shoves the wounded leader out of harms way. Sokka swings the war fan attacking Lori but she manages to dodge and block his attacks, his last strike she blocks with her armored gauntlet and counters with a hard punch to the face with her other hand. Sokka was spun around from the blow but came back around and thrusted the now collapsed fan forward like a dagger, but Lori managed to side step it and grabbed his arm and spun him around using the moment from his attack, throwing him through the wall of a house.

She didn't have time to enjoy the fact she just kicked her brothers ass as the leader, who she now knew as Suki came at her with a war fan in hand. Lori jumped back from the attacked but Suki followed it with another attack. She was most definitely a better fighter then her brother and a lot faster but she didn't have the time to admire. Suki swiped the fan downward and Lori found her opening as she grabbed her arm and delivered two hard punches to her wounded shoulder. Suki cried in pain but kept on fighting, quickly spinning and swiping the fan. Lori ducked under the attack, extending the blade from her gauntlet and slashing at her shin just as she was coming back up. Suki cried in pain again and collapsed to her knees but still kept fighting. She tried again swiping her fan but Lori caught her arm pulling it hard, forcing her to her back. She stomped on her wound with her boot and then broke her arm with a sick crack.

Suki screamed in agonizing pain as Lori dropped her arm and left her in pain. "SUKI!" Lori heard behind her but was caught off guard as her brother tackled her to the ground. The sudden attacked surprised her but it wasn't long before Zuko came and kicked him off her. Lori jumped back to her feet.

"Nice try Avatar, but these little girls can't save you!" Zuko calls out.

"That _little girl_ is my brother." Lori says. Zuko turned to see said Kyoshi warrior tending to Suki, cringing at the realization.

"Why is he wearing a dress?"

"I don't know!" she snaps. "Why don't you ask-"

"Hey! Over here!" Their interrupted by the voice of the Avatar. They both turn around, Lori drawing her swords and Zuko entering a fighting stance.

"Finally!" They both say and attack. Lori charges at the Avatar swinging her swords at him while Zuko shoots a volley of fire.

Aang narrowly manages to dodge and block their attacks, together they're dangerous and he just barely managed to survive. He would using his air bending to blow out any fire balls that Zuko shot, but as for Lori, he could only duck and dodge as she swung her swords. He didn't want to hurt her, but he was more focused on not getting hurt either. "Lori." He could barely get out as she kept on attacking. "Please. Stop. I just." he would try to talk but she persisted and growing angrier the more he talked to her. "Wanna. Talk. To you-AHH!" She cried as she swung het sword which he barely managed to duck under. If he had hair she would've sliced it. Taking a small opening, he jumped and pushed Lori away with a short gust of wind.

The wind threw pushed her forward toward Zuko but she didn't fall, in fact it helped her. Still on her feet she ran toward her Prince who places his hands together waiting for her. She hopped one foot on to his hands and threw her back-flipping in the air. She spun her swords around coming down slamming her blades into the ground much to Aangs terror who had only missed them by a second. Zuko continued his attack while Aang remains on defense.

Lori watched as Zuko's bolts of fire were useless against Aangs staff. She had to get rid of it. She grabbed her crossbow and loaded a bolt ready to fire. Aang didn't notice when she fired a bolt striking his staff, sending it flying out of his hands. Now in shock and defenseless Zuko took the opportunity to charge at him but Aang quickly recovered, using his Air Bending to leap over the both of them. Lori growled at his continuing to evade them.

Aang landed on the opposite side of the square, air bending a pair of discarded war fans into his hands. Both Lori and Zuko behind her charged toward him ready to finally take him down. Aang reeled back and used the war fans to hurl a powerful gust of wins toward his two opponents, sending them both hurdling through a building. Aang cringed. If Lori wasn't mad at him before, she certainly was now.

Dropping the fans he jumped over to where his staff lay when Lori shot it out of his hands. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing as he pulled the bolt out of his staff. That could've killed him

Lori and Zuko both groaned in pain, feeling as though they had been shot out of a cannon from the force that hit them. She got to her feet first, but saw Zuko was still buried under some of the debris. "Zuko!" She exclaimed and went to help him but he stopped her.

"I'll be fine!" He said. "Go after the Avatar!" After a second of hesitation she nodded and followed his order, making her out the large hole in the wall. "Your mask!" He called out.

Lori stopped in her tracks and touches her face, realizing that her owl mask was no longer on her face. She founded by the entry way and quickly fastened it back on before venturing out. The Avatar's staff was gone but he left behind the steel-tipped bolt. He was gone, but he hadn't left the island yet she was sure of that. She made a quick scan around the area and saw a small orange object in the sky disappear behind a couple buildings toward the statue of Avatar Kyoshi. She quickly picked up the bolt and her sheathed her swords sprinted in the direction of the fly object. Running deeper into the town she began to lose her scent, all the houses looked the same, she wasn't sure where the Avatar could have gone. She'd have to _ask_ for help. Approaching one of the houses she noticed figures cower away as she made it to the door. She kicked it down and was welcomed by a terrified family cowering in a corner while the man stood in front to protect his family. "Stay back! Please!" He said his voice shaking.

She approached them brandishing one of her daggers in her hand. "Tell me where the Avatar is!" She growled making the family shake in fear.

The mans eye darted around the room, either looking for a weapon or trying to come up with a convincing lie. "The Avatar? I, I don't know."

A convincing lie then. She wasn't convinced. She noticed a little boy peeking out looking at her with terror in his eyes. His mistake. She reached forward and grabbed him, clutching him close with a tight grasp on his hair, yanking hard to keep the boy in line and putting her dagger to his neck. Both he and the family screamed. "Lets try this again. Where! Is! The Avatar!" She growled again yanking his hair to pull his head up, further exposing his neck. The boy cries out for his father to save him.

"Papa! Please help me!" The boy cried out. His family looking in horror. "Papa please!"

" _Papa please help me!_ " She mocked the boy's cries for help. " _Papa papa! Please help **ME PAPA!**_ " She growls like an animal that last part in anger. She yanks harder ready to slice his neck.

* * *

 _"Daddy! Daddy help me!"_

* * *

She shook her head finding herself back in real time. "Please don't hurt him! The man cries out, begging her to stop.

Lori snapped bring the dagger closer to the boys neck feeling an artery ready to slice. "Do you love your son or NOT!" She growled like a feral animal. "Why won't you save him! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE HER!" She screamed ready to kill the boy.

"UP THE HILL!" He finally shouted. The Avatar went up the hill toward the Avatar Kyoshi statue! He and his friends were staying in a large house west of the statue!" He finally surrendered and gave up the information with tears spilling from his eyes. "Now please let my son go." He cried.

Now with the information she no longer needed a hostage. She let the boy go who then went running into his mothers arms crying.

Lori looked at the mother and child and then back to the father who stood there relieved. She felt her anger rising. "Your a failure as a father." she snarled and then slashed him across the chest before walking out. The mother screamed as her husband dropped to the floor in agony from his bleeding chest. She wasn't talking to him, he was just a place holder. Besides, she didn't cut too deep enough for him to bleed out. He'd survive. Probably.

She exited the house, sheathing her dagger and followed the path up the hill where the man said to go. She was nearing the very top when she spotted an orange figure talking with a blue figure. The Avatar. And her sister. Katara.

Aang was in pain. After seeing the burning village as he flew over to find Katara he felt a great pang in his heart. He brought this suffering on these good people.

"Get inside." He heard Katara say to a little child. She turned around seeing Aang land with a pained expression on his face.

"Look what I brought to this place." he said.

"Its not your fault."

"Yes it is. These people got their town destroyed trying to protect me." Aang said feeling the guilt growing heavier.

"Then lets get out of here. Zuko will leave Kyoshi to follow us." She reasoned, but the idea of just running away made Aangs guilt weigh even more. "I know it feels wrong to run, but I think its the only way."

She was right on both accounts. It did feel wrong to just run, but she was also right in that it was the only way. He sullenly agreed. "I'll call Appa."

Before he could do so one of the Kyoshi warriors ran up to them frantic. "You guys need to leave!" The Kyoshi warrior said.

"We know. As soon as we're gone, Prince Zuko will leave to come after us and leave you in peace." Katara said.

"And I'm sorry I brought them here in the first place." Aang voiced sadly. "I never should have brought this on you."

The Khoshi warrior smiled kindly. "Don't worry we'll be fine once they're gone." she gave a respectful bow toward him. "It was an honor to fight with the Avatar. We'll try to hold them off-" she was turning around when something silenced her. A gauntleted claw grabbed her throat choking her as the girl with the Owl mask came from behind a building.

Her eyes widened in fear as she tried to fight and scream, starring into the masked face of the girl who took down their leader. Her eyes bulging as she squeezed tighter Both Aang and Katara gasped in shock as she seemingly choked the Kyoshi warrior into unconsciousness and then dropped her like dead weight. Katara, recovering from her shock raised her hands ready for a fight, but Aang remained with his hands shaking. "Aang get out of here!" Katara said mad remembering how this girl desecrated her sisters memorial. "I'll hold her off!"

Her words brought fear to Aang as he knew exactly who Lori was and what she was capable of. Katara didn't stand a chance. Aang raised his hands at both of them. "Wait stop you don't understand!" He tried to stop this mess from escalating. "She's not who you think she is! She's-"

Aang was interrupted when Lori thrusted her arm shooting a knife from her wrist. Aang cried out and jumped away in fear as Katara water bended from a nearby barrel of water an ice barrier to protect him "Aang GO!" Katara said again.

Not wanting to leave her to this reunion but fearing for his life, Aang opened his glider and took to the sky, leaving the sisters.

Lori watched the Avatar fly away leaving her with her sister. She growled at her intervention and from her intervention at the South Pole. She didn't want to hurt her but she kept getting in her way. She extended another blade on her wrist. Katara took a step back. "I'm not scared of you!" She said, but shaking hands and her voice gave it away.

"Yes you are." Lori said coldly. "You should be." _I've waited ten years for this!_ She thought to herself.

Her words made Katara quake in fear. The urge to run intensified but she was to scared to move. As Lori took another step, the Kyoshi warrior regained consciousness momentarily and grabbed her leg. "Katara! Run!" she shouted. Lori simply kicked her, rolling the Kyoshi warrior onto her back and stomped on her face, most likely shattering her nose.

"No!" Katara cried out as the assailant looked back at her. Katara turned around and took off running into the woods. With a feral scream she knew Owl Mask was after her. She kept running.

Katara tore off her coat, being to heavy for her to run and she needed the extra speed to try and out run the girl. She ran through the thick woods, dodging trees and jumping over rocks and fallen logs and making random runs and turns to try and lose her pursuer. She didn't bother looking back too afraid to find the Owl Mask right behind her. She stopped grasping a tree to catch her breath as her lungs burned from running so much, her eyes watching her surroundings. So far, the coast seemed clear, but she wasn't trusting that feeling. She needed water.

After she caught her breath she got back up and started running toward a nearby stream where she hopped she would be safe. However she was caught off guard as she heard a feral cry come from her left as Owl Mask leapt at her with full fury. Katara narrowly dodged her ducking out of the way and quickly getting back up to get to the stream. She risked a glance behind her and saw her pursuer quickly recover, rolling back onto her feet and whipping back around to chase her. Katara sprinted as fast as she could, giving everything she had into her legs to make it to the water. She knew her assailant was fast approaching and getting closer, but she was so close to the water, to the safety of having a defense. As a last ditch effort she lunged forward toward the stream, landing at the bank and whipping a large stream of water behind her just as her assailant leapt for her. The stream of water crashed into her just in time throwing her a short distance away.

Katara once again was panting her hard, her running and her leap drained her of her energy. She was barely able to get to her knees, exhausted from her chase when she saw the slowly drifting down the water. The girl just down the bank started coughing, most likely coughing up any water that made it into her mouth. Katara dared to look in her direction, too afraid and yet too curious to see her face. She grabbed her face suddenly surprised that her mask had fallen off her face and started scrambling around looking for it with one hand still on her face. Katara slowly tried to get back to her feet wanting to take this chance to escape when she accidentally snapped a twig. She immediately turned around to face her with one hand still covering half her face and Katara's eyes widened in horror, her breath catching in her throat as as she lost the ability to breath. She seemed to be starring at her own reflection. But it wasn't. A spirit she thought, but no.

"Lo... Lori?" Katara asked with tears building in her eyes from seeing her long dead twin sister. Lori's eyes widened as well starring back at her sister from shock, but quickly narrowed into a look of hatred as she slowly lowered her hand for Katara to take in the full sight. Katara wanted to cry, finally seeing her sister again after believing her to be dead for ten years. "Lori!?"

"Rabbit." She said silently as she extended her wrist blade and charged after her. She leapt forward about to strike her sister when Katara ran behind a tree to protect her from the attack. Katara turned around and ran, scared for her life as her sister chased after her trying to attack her.

Her sister. No. It was impossible. It couldn't be her. She was supposed to be dead. The Fire Nation took her away ten years ago, she can't be here right now. She risked another glance behind her believing it to be just her imagination. Her suspicions were horrifyingly confirmed when she looked back and and saw her face, filled with much anger and hatred, leaping at her with wanting to strike her down. Katara reached out and grasped a thin tree stopping her and spinning her around to face her sister. She stretched out her arm pleading to her to stop. "LORI, WAIT!" She desperately cried out. Lori's only reply was throwing a solid punch with her gauntlet. Katara leapt out of the way just as Lori's fist smashed the tree.

Lori gave a animal like cry of anger as she spun around and continued to chase Katara through the woods. She saw her face. Knew she who she was. Knew she was alive. And it was all because, _The bitch water bended my mask off!_ She snarled internally. She chased Katara up the river while Katara tried desperately to get away. At first this was all about tormenting her a little for getting in their way, but now, she wanted to hurt her. Katara jumped onto a large fallen log and leapt off, the drop being surprisingly high as she landed and rolled to brake her fall. She got back to her knees just a Lori climbed the fallen log and leapt off landed right in front of her without even flinching. The crash of her boots hitting the dirt made Katara fall back starring up at her sister with fear. "LORI PLEASE STOP!" Katara cried in fear with her arm stretched out once again as though it would save her. She slowly and hesitantly climbed back to her feet, her whole body shaking at the girl in black armor before her still not believing her own eyes. "Please Lori! Its me!" She pleaded as though it would save her. Lori didn't care as she felt a tug at her heart. She took her mask off. That Owl Mask was her second favorite mask and now it was gone forever. It was a gift from her big brother Lu Ten. The anger rose in her as she once again swung her gauntlet at Katara just barely missing her as she cowered behind a tree, the claws of her gauntlet tearing through the bark of said tree.

Katara once again ran with tears welling in her eyes as her sister gave another angered growl and once again chased after her. "LORI STOP! IT'S ME!" She cried. The anger in her eyes scared her to the bone. _What did they do to her?_ _Why doesn't she remember me?_ She thought to herself as more tears began to slid down her cheek. The Fire Nation did something to her, it was the only explanation. _Could they brain wash people?_ That had to be it, there was no other reason why she would attack her own twin sister, much less willingly work with Prince Zuko. Either way she was too dangerous and out of control. She had no choice she had to fight back. Katara got closer to the stream and she knew for sure that Lori was behind her as well. She ran faster and faster getting ever so closer to the village, her window closing. She was coming close to a large rock, _that could work_. Risking the chance Katara whipped around summoning water and shooting it at Lori. Lori felt a heavy pull as she was suddenly pushed into the large rock, just as Katara had hoped and then she froze the water. Lori's left hand was incased in ice and stuck to the large rock, she tried to pry away from her restraints but it was to difficult.

Katara saw as Lori tried desperately to free herself from the ice, punching it twice hard each time making a terrible crashing sound that made her flinch. Every fiber of her being was telling her to run away, to find Aang and to get out of here, but her feet remained rooted in place. She was too scared to stay and yet to scared to move. "Lori!" She sounded before she could even think and her sisters angry eyes were now on her. She could now see them clearly, greyed and dead inside and filled with much anger, wide like a feral animal which went well with heavy panting and barring teeth. Her heart broke seeing this girl who was once her sister.

* * *

 _Katara ran to her Gran-Gran's side running around until she saw her target's back. She tagged her catching her sister by surprise. She jumped before turning around. "Your it!" She giggled before running away._

 _Lori gave chase laughing as she ran around her Gran-Gran to find her twin. She ran faster until she saw her believing her to be smart by hiding behind their Gran-Gran. She tagged her with a slight shove. "You It!" She giggled out before running away and Katara gave chase._

 _"Girls be careful." Their Gran-Gran said with a laugh._

 _Lori finally broke away from the elderly woman and tried to escape before being tackled by her twin sister and crashing into the snow with an 'umpf'. Kanna's smile dropped as the girl sat up on the snow starring at each other, but it came back as they started laughing together. Katara sat closer and hugged her sister tightly. "Your It!" She laughed._

 _Lori laughed too. "Me It!"_

* * *

Lori snarled like an animal as her cold eyes were still no her. Katara once remembered those eyes to be filled with life and joy. Now they were filled with hatred. With wild eyes and water dropping from her hair, she looked like a depraved wild animal locked in a cage who had known nothing but pain in its life. "Lori Please!" Katara said. "I'm your sister!" She pleaded hoping that some how she'd be able to break through her brain washing to remember her. "Please! You have to remember me!" She said again.

Lori's panting began to calm. Katara saw this as a good sign and slowly stepped forward. "Come on. You remember me. I'm your sister. Katara." The look on Lori's face seemed as though realization was dawning on her and that gave Katara hope. She was remembering, she was coming back. Coming back home. She smiled. "It's Katara. Your twin sister. It's me." She said softy this time, hoping to finally win her sister back. And then her smile dropped as her blood froze over like the coldest winter night in the South Pole.

Lori's eyes opened wide as she breathed a silent, "I know." Faster then a fire ball, Lori's gauntleted fist shattered her ice restraints and clasped her swords, tearing them from her sheath and spinning them around in a tornado of blades as she spun them toward her sister. Katara cried out in horror as she jumped out of the way, the swords slicing bits of hair before getting stuck in a tree. Katara collapsed crying as she looked up to see Lori looking at her with murderous intent. Faster then she though possible, she got to her feet and sprinted with all her strength toward the village seeing Appa finally arriving to fly her away from this nightmare. Lori watched the Flying Bison arrived just as she dislodged her swords from the wood. "That thing can't save you." She snarled more so to herself before she took chase. While Katara ran past the burning houses toward the town center, Lori took to the roofs of the houses. She ran along the roofs still chasing her sister who had no idea what was coming. Katara turned around and slowed her run seeing that she was no longer behind her. Big mistake. Lori leapt off the roof with a war cry, tossing her other sword into her left hand. Katara looked up to the noise but was too later as Lori's fist crashed into Katara's face.

Katara dropped down instantly like dead weight while Lori rolled back onto her feet, skidding a little before stopping. Everything was black for her. She wanted to open her eyes, she wanted to get back onto her feet and run but that blow that Lori dealt to her, it was like being hit in the face with a giant hammer. Her face was in so much agonizing pain that it felt almost numb. It was like all her energy in her body was to numbing the pain and keeping her from blacking out completely. She was still alive, still breathing, but she felt dead, unable to even move a finger. She could feel someone violently roll her onto her back as her eyes finally fluttered open. It was Lori with a pair of swords to her neck. Katara began to cry again. Why was she doing this.? "Lori." She said weakly. "Please. It's me."

"I know Katara." Lori replied in a whisper, unfazed. "You shouldn't have-" She said which then turned into a growl. "-gotten involved!"

"GET OFF MY SISTER!" Just before she could do anything, she was suddenly tackled down by Sokka, losing her swords in the process. Sokka was ready the punch the person who had dared tried to hurt her sister when his eyes widened in horror when they looked down at, his sister. His eyes shot back to Katara with a nasty bruise on her left cheek and who was slowly getting back up to confirm that that was in fact Katara. It was her. He looked back down at the girl under her with angry eyes on him now, still not believing "Lori?" He whispered and was welcomed with a hard head butt to the face, breaking his nose.

Sokka reeled back clutching his now bleeding nose until he was suddenly kicked away by Prince Zuko who had finally decided to show up. He out stretched his hand to pulled Lori back to her feet which she gladly took, jumping back to her feet. Zuko was surprised seeing Lori's angry face. Where was her mask? He didn't bother asking their attention now on her brother and sister who were trying to escape on the Flying Bison. Before they could even charge forward, they were suddenly ambushed by the Kyoshi Warriors. _Damn It_ _!_ She thought. They were really starting to piss her off. She started her fight by launching a punch to one warriors face then another punch to a second warriors's knee, and then spinning her leg around in a sweeping motion to kick a third warriors legs out from under her before using the momentum to jump up and deliver a powerful downward punch onto a fourth Warrior who dropped like a sack of flower. Soon they were reinforced by some of their own Fire Benders, but that did nothing to calm her rage. She fought the warriors with reckless abandon and with much anger fueled by her deep hatred for those who have gotten in her way, most notably her sister, Katara. One warrior had thrusted a dagger toward Lori which she dodged out of the way before grabbing her wrist, turning her around, exposing her elbow and then driving her own elbow down onto the warriors with such violent intent, causing the warrior to cry out in pain. As she dropped clutching her wounded arm, Lori looked back up seeing her brother and sister now climbing onto the saddle of the Flying Bison. "NO!" She shouted and ran from the battle leaping onto a roof of a house and then lifted her arm and fired a knife toward them. The knife narrowly missed Sokka's back instead striking Katara in the back of her shoulder. Katara screamed in agonizing pain as she collapsed into the saddle grasping at her wounded shoulder.

"APPA YIP YIP!" Aang called and his animal companion took to the skies with a grumble. Lori's fists clenched as she gave a cry of anger. She had lost the Avatar again, and again because her stupid brother and sister got in the way.

"BACK TO THE SHIP! DON'T LOSE SIGHT OF THEM!" She heard Zuko order as he and the other Fire benders started a retreat. The Kyoshi Warriors no longer following them, feeling they had won this fight.

Lori had leapt off the roof to join her Prince in the retreat, feeling nothing but anger, embarrassment and shame for what happened here. And to make matters worse, the Avatar had somehow called upon the giant sea serpent, the Unagi to put out the flames of the burning village and leave them all soaking wet. Lori was so angry she swore if she was a Fire Bender she would be dry by now. By the time they arrived to the ship and were loading up the Komodo Rhino's and the rest of the men the Avatar's Bison was nothing more but a dot in the sky. What made her blood boil was the snicker she was hearing behind her. "The great mighty Fire Nation, running away from a fight." One of the Kyoshi Warriors mocked. Lori's blood boiled as she continued to snicker. She barely turned her head seeing the lone warrior brave enough to attempt suicide by mocking her. "How embarrassing for you." Her fists clenched. "And for that lousy Prince. No wonder he was-"

She was interrupted as Lori threw a fist to her face which she followed by kneeing her in the gut. She almost doubled over but she wasn't through yet. Lori grabbed onto her hair and started mercilessly punching her in the face. One after another after another, she beat her face until her gauntleted fist was bloody and she kept on punching. "LORI!" She heard Zuko call her. She whipped her back seeing the look on her Prince's face. How could he just say her name like that in the open. She turned around and saw the crowd of Warriors gathered by the neck of the woods. Non of them with looks of anger or disgust, just shock. And she could hear their murmurs.

' _Is that her?_ ' ' _Oh my God!_ ' ' _Spirits!_ ' ' _That's Katara's sister!_ ' ' _Is that Lori?_ ' ' _No it can't be?_ ' ' _Isn't she supposed to be dead?_ '

Her eyes went down to the bloody girl in her hands. She was no longer moving, she wasn't sure if she was even breathing. She just dropped her like a sack of flour and ran back to her Prince. They were wasting time. As she got closer to the ramp she could hear a scuffle as a warrior, an older girl was running past the crowd, but not towards them, toward the unconscious bloody girl on the ground. She cried int panic. "Mina. Mina? MINA!" She cradled the girls face as she cried in panic. Maybe they were sisters.

The older girl cried as she cradled the other girls bloody face in her hands. Maybe she was just unconscious. Typically when she beat someone half to death, they would wake up a few days later after intensive care. Or maybe she wouldn't wake up at all, because she was dead. She didn't really care. _The dumb bitch should've just kept her mouth shut!_ She thought as her thoughts then went to her own sister who she recently injured and how much she wanted to do the exact same thing to her.


	9. Exposed

The sun was slowly beginning to set behind the mountains. Sunsets were usually beautiful, the lovely orange lights beaming down the last hours of day, but it couldn't break through the heavy and disheartened feeling in the air. They hadn't stopped flying since they escaped the chaos they brought to Kyoshi Island. No one said a word as they flew through the clouds, not even Appa gave one of his moans or groans, feeling the pain coming from his friends riding his saddle. Aang couldn't keep his eyes off the skies before them, too afraid to look back to his pained friends. Too afraid to see the burning village they left behind. He put out the fires with the help of the Unagi and the Fire Nation had left the island to follow, but he could still see the flames across the island. He could imagine the screams of the villagers being burned alive behind his closed eyes. Is that what happened to his people? Is that what happened when the Fire Nation attacked the Air Temples? He felt a tear go down his face from the pain, seeing his old friends. Gyatso.

He opened his eyes and turned to see his new friends. Katara and Sokka. His new family. He swore he would do what ever it takes to protect them from any pain and he was already failing. Not only had they both been hurt during the attack, but now they were the worst kind of pain imaginable in their hearts. Sokka's face was still bloody from his broken nose, but since then had stopped bleeding. His concerns were focused on his sister in his arms. She had only recently stopped crying from what happened on the island. Her cheek was purple, swollen from her attack and she had been shot in the back of the shoulder with a knife during their escape. The very knife was now just resting on the saddle a little away from them. Sokka managed to patch her up . But those tears came from the person had who hurt her and her discovery.

Lori. They found out she was alive. And she was working with Prince Zuko. She was helping him hunt them down and had hurt them. Aang couldn't even begin to imagine how she was feeling now. For ten years she had thought her sister to be dead and now she knew she was alive and had hurt her. She was working with the enemy and it seemed as though she wasn't going to be switching sides any time soon. He wish he could've protected them from this painful truth even though it seemed futile. They were bound to find out eventually, just not like this. Not with Lori attacking and hurting Katara in such a terrible way.

"You knew." He heard Katara's soft voiced. She lifted her head away from her brothers embrace to look at Aang. He could feel the sense of heartbroken betrayal from the tone of her voice and the tears building in her eyes bloodshot eyes. She didn't sound angry, but the feeling of betrayal pulled at his heart. "You knew. Why didn't you tell us?"

Aang opened his mouth but couldn't find the words to speak. His silence was all the only answer they needed. His eyes moved up to Sokka. He too was left surprised by the shocking news. They weren't angry at him, just hurt that he kept this from them. He turned away not wanting to face them and see the pain in their eyes. "You knew she was alive? When?" Sokka asked. His voice low and full of hurt.

Aang turned away from them and lowered his head not wanting to see their hurt looks. He wanted to tell them. He tried to tell them from when he first found out back from when he escaped Prince Zuko's ship from when they first began their journey. He just didn't know how. How could he? How could he possibly explain to them that their sister who was thought to be dead was still alive and working with the enemy? "Aang." Katara spoke again with a strained voice.

"I didn't know how." He finally said. "I found out when I first surrendered at the South Pole. She tried to stop me when I escaped, before you showed up." He felt a light tears going down his face as he turned to face them. "You told me she was dead. I didn't know what to think when I first saw her. I thought she was you." He looked to Katara. "I was afraid. I, I didn't know."

They were silent now, letting the words hang in the air. Sokka looked over to the knife sitting a little way away on the saddle with them. The one he pulled from Katara's shoulder. There was still some blood on it. Lori shot it at her when they tried to escape. Lori had broken his nose when he tackled her off Katara, (it was still broken). During the fight she fought and hurt the Kyoshi Warriors. She hurt Suki badly. And the entire time she was fighting by Zuko's side. She never even hesitated to fight them and hurt them and had such an evil look in her eyes when doing so like she didn't care, like they were complete strangers and not her brother and sister. "It couldn't have been her." He voiced hoarsely. "Lori was never liked that. That couldn't have been her."

"She attacked us." Aang said, his voice also cracking. "She was with Zuko. She hurt you guys."

Sokka lowered his head feeling in empty sensation inside. The facts were there. She hurt them, their new friends, innocent people. She did nothing as the Fire Nation set fire to the village, only focused on capturing Aang. "I, I can't believe it. I can't believe Lori-"

"No!" Katara finally said aloud. "Stop it Sokka! That wasn't Lori!" Katara said pulling away, feeling betrayed by her own brother. Both boys on the bison starred at her with wide and shocked expressions on their faces. "That wasn't Lori!"

"Katara..."

"NO!" Katara shouted pulling away from her traitorous brother, starring at him horrified. She grimaced at the sudden pain in her shoulder, putting her hand over the wound as though it would sooth the pain. "That wasn't her fault." She said trying to convince herself, remembering when Lori attacked her.

* * *

 _"It's Katara. Your twin sister. It's me." She said._

 _"I know." Lori's gauntleted fist shattered her ice restraints and clasped her swords, tearing them from her sheath and spinning them around in a tornado of blades as she spun them toward her._

 _She was still alive, still breathing, but she felt dead, unable to even move a finger. She could feel someone violently roll her onto her back as her eyes finally fluttered open. It was Lori with a pair of swords to her neck. She began to cry again. "Lori." She said weakly. "Please. It's me."_

 _"I know Katara." Lori replied in a whisper, unfazed. "You shouldn't have-" She said which then turned into a growl. "-gotten involved!"_

* * *

Katara wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes. She could feel the imaginary walls closing in on her, not wanting to believe the evidence that she experienced first hand. That wasn't her sisters doing. It just wasn't in her nature. She would never do any of this willingly. She could suddenly feel a tingling sensation in her shoulder and cheek. "That wasn't her. They forced her to do it, she didn't have a choice." Katara reasoned with herself.

Both Sokka and Aang turned to each other and then back to her seeing the heartbroken look on her face. "Katara." Aang said. "But how could that be? I don't think the Fire Nation could do that."

"No they could." Katara replied more frantic. "They brainwashed her or something so that she would follow them without question."

Sokka pondered the idea for a moment. Could the Fire Nation be capable of brainwashing prisoners? How did they accomplish such a feat? He could imagine they strap her to a hard metal chair and start reciting some phrase to coax her into a trance. The Fire Nation probably wasn't above using pain as a motivator as well. How long did she last? The idea of the Fire Nation harming his sister, even as a child made him sick. He definitely knew they weren't above hurting even killing children.

He felt heavy at his heart imagining his terrified baby sister locked up in some filthy horrible Fire Nation prison cell covered in dirt and grime and the heartless ashmakers feeding her scrapes to keep her barely alive until she was old enough. The thought of her being so scared, probably praying to whatever spirits that he, their father, and the rest of the warriors would storm that prison and bring her home. He wondered when exactly it was she lost hope. Maybe it was true. Maybe they had brainwashed her into serving the Fire Nation Prince. His face scrunched up in pain and anger at the prince. What kind of things did he do to her? What was she to him anyways? Did he even consider her as a human being, or was she simply a mindless slave. He clenched his fist in anger and his blood boiled at the thought of the prince touching her and raping her like he owned her, like she was nothing but simply a bag of flesh meant to answer every call, whim, and desire of his. He was starting to hope that Katara was right and that they had brainwashed her into a mindless machine. The idea that everything she had done so far willingly hurt to much.

Even so. "If your right, then we're too late." Sokka said bowing his now heavy head. "We can't get her back."

"NO!" Katara said again refusing to believe that. "She's are sister! They took her away and brainwashed her! But we can get her back!"

"How Katara?" Sokka questioned. "It's been TEN years! We don't even know how the Fire Nation brainwash people."

Aang had watched silently during this whole exchange. He didn't think the Fire Nation had brainwashed her. He didn't even think it was possible and he couldn't imagine they would do that to a little girl. The idea seemed terrifying, but then again it had been one hundred years, and after seeing his home he knew that Fire Nation was capable of unspeakable evil. But still, to brainwash a little girl.

He looked up to see his two friends still arguing. "Katara please. You don't think I want my baby sister back!? I do want her back so much... but she's gone."

Katara now with tears going down her cheeks turned around hugging herself tighter. "No she's not." She said quietly. "She's not gone. I won't give up on her. Not again, not ever again." She said with a sense of finality and then curled up on the floor of the saddle to sleep her sorrow away. "Good night." She said hoarsely.

No one else said a word. Aang turned back to guide Appa through the skies while Sokka lied down on the saddle to get some sleep, giving his sister some space. He wished he had her strength and courage to believe in such hope.

Katara didn't get much sleep that night. She kept seeing Lori. She had been dead for ten years. But she wasn't dead, she was with the Fire Nation. She kept seeing her face. Her cute adorable little face with bright deep blues eyes, smiling and in ignorant bliss suddenly starting to cry, then contorting and screaming in terror and pain and then morphing into the teenager she saw back on the island. Older, taller, no longer an innocent child and angry with cold dead eyes and screaming in anger and hatred at her. _"You shouldn't have **gotten involved**!" _She shouts at her before she attacks her. This new image of her sister making her sob in sorrow.

* * *

Lori was not happy. Not one bit. They lost the Avatar again. And again it was because _they_ got in the way. Her stupid brother and sister. There seemed to be no end to their insufferable Why did they have to keep getting in the way. She slammed her fist into the bulkhead in anger startling Su as she was slowly approaching the crowd. Her pace slowed down even more seeing the angered expression on her face. No one said a word as they all walked through the metal corridors and made their way up to the bridge of the ship.

No one said a word as the angered prince approached the helmsman angered by the fact they hadn't started moving. "Why are we moving so slowly!? We should have spotted them by now! Explain yourself!" He ordered the shaking man as he tried to sputter an explanation. Surely Prince Zuko could understand that this was an old and obsolete ship, they weren't as fast or as maneuverable modern frigates. But then again this was Prince Zuko.

"Calm down Prince Zuko." Iroh said in his traditional calm voice. "There is no reason to be angry."

"NO REASON!" Zuko spat back, a breath of fire escaping his nostrils. "The Avatar has escaped AGAIN! And now, because we have an inadequate and incompetent crew with us, he's long gone!"

"Not to mention my idiot brother and sister." Lori more or less grumbled to herself as she started ringing her still wet hair which was now sticking to her skin and armor. However her silent comment was still loud enough for her elder to hear. It was then Iroh realized that Lori no longer had her owl mask. The fact saddened him. That was a gift from his son Lu Ten.

"Lori what happened? Where is your mask?" He asked the angered girl. Lori's anger began to rise even more so recalling the incident. She gave a loud huff before starting.

"My sister happened! She growled. "She blinded sided me with water bending, and I lost my mask. My second favorite mask, and she took it AWAY!" She said slamming her fist into the bulkhead again making Su jump again. It seemed as though every person on bridge held their breath from the news. They all new the gravity of the situation. Well except Su of course. However she was aware that she had a brother and sister. She could recall from so long ago, back when they were prisoners together ten years ago, how she missed them and wanted to see them again. What must have happened to make her change. Why all of a sudden did she seem to despise the people she once held dear to her heart. And why was it big news that they now knew her?

Jee was the one to finally speak grabbing everyones attention. "So that means... they know who you are now, and..." He started but wasn't sure how to continue his train of thought.

"It doesn't matter." Lori said. "It doesn't mean anything. We've still got a job to do."

"Agreed." Zuko finally said. "Helmsman! Get this ship moving North West! Hopefully you'll be able to recover from this embarrassment." He said before walking out of the bridge with Lori close behind him. Unsure of what to do Su followed behind them, wanting to make sure that Lori was fine. She was very upset from her display in the bridge. She just wanted to make sure that the Fire Prince wouldn't do anything to her. By now she had become more familiar with these halls and knew they were on their way toward the main deck. "We need to discuss-" She could Prince Zuko speaking. "-about your brother and sister." The Prince stopped and turned to face his bodyguard, not really caring that Su was among them as well.

"There is _nothing_ to discuss." Lori said back sternly to her Prince with a twitch in her eye.

Zuko crossed his arms. "They were on Kyoshi Island. And they helped the Avatar escaped again and we still don't know where their going or what their plan is!"

"You don't think I don't know that!" She replied through gritted teeth. "You don't think i'm angry about this too! I want the Avatar almost as much as you do!"

Zuko's arms didn't move and the look on his face the look of annoyance and disappointment remained on his face which angered Lori. "Look I get it. Your angry at them, maybe even hate them. But you need to keep it under lock and key other wise you'll screw up again and they'll slip through our grasp again." Zuko said sternly to his bodyguard. _If you think any of this is my fault, then your sadly mistaken!_ She thought to herself. Su was very uncomfortable about this situation. She wan't sure what to say to calm them down. Then again she was just a slave. Zuko continued. "I can't trust you to follow if you go off the rails the next time you see them. If it happens again, I'll have no choice to but to leave you on the ship!"

Su couldn't see but she knew Lori's eyes just went wide from surprise. She was surprised as well. She had only been on the ship for a little over a week but she already knew that where ever Zuko went Lori was there with him. The two were always together. Whether by design, she wasn't sure. "Then who the hell are you going to bring with you? Uncle. You'll have a better chance with Su then bring along any of these sad sacks!" She spoke about the other soldiers and Fire Benders. "I'm the only one can match you. I'm the only other person who stands a chance against the Avatar. You need me to fight them! Katara and Sokka-"

"-Are nothing more then a nuisance!" Zuko interrupted silencing Lori and surprising Su for the umpteenth time. He leered closer in to get in her face. "Your brother and sister are just a distraction to keep our real target out of our grasp. The Avatar is the top priority! You knew this the day you signed up for this." Zuko spatted. He pulled away once again standing tall over her. "I had hoped that you could keep you personal problems out of this and keep a level head, but now I'm starting to think other wise."

Lori was fuming. Her clenched fist was so tight the claws of her gauntlet would've punctured her skin. She wanted to shout and yell at him for being in idiot. She could not believe that he was blaming her for all of this, its not like she wanted Katara to water whip her mask off and discover her identity. Its not like she asked them to get in the way. She wanted to scream into his scarred face for blaming her for all of this. But she back down. One look at his scar and she felt the urge to yell fade away. She just took it and let him vent, thats what this really was venting. He just had to vent and it had to be to someone who wouldn't take it personally and talk badly behind his back. Still that didn't exactly mean that she liked it. "It won't happen again." She said crossing her arms.

Zuko's voice softened ever so slightly that only Lori was able to notice, however it made a difference for her when he continued speaking. "It better not. The next time we face them I want you by my side when we face the Avatar. We've seen how he works, we'll be able to take him. Your brother and sister are non of our concern, the Fire Benders can take care of them."

Lori perked up a little bit as an idea came to mind. "If anything we'd be able to use them as hostages. The Avatar gave himself up willingly so that we'd leave the Southern Water Tribe. No doubt he'd do that same if his friends were in danger."

Zuko very much liked that idea. The corners of lips lifted ever so slightly, even Su was able to see. She didn't like it. From what she had heard, the Avatar was just a child. The worlds last hope to end this war and bring world peace was only a child and they wanted to imprison him. And his companions were Lori's brother and sister which meant they were no older then she was. She had a twin, she remembered. And also an older brother, maybe the same age as the Fire Nation Prince perhaps. "Thats a good idea, so long as you can keep a level head." He said stoically. "I can't have you running off every time you see them."

The anger returned as she once again glared at him. "It won't happen again. I know who the target is and he's the primary objective. However if they get in our way-" She raised her gauntleted hand, extending her wrist blade with a sharp _shhnk_ sound which made Su's skin crawl and then clenching a tight fist. "-It can't be helped if they get hurt. Collateral damage and all." She finished darkly.

"Just remember who the priority is. Once he's in chains, then you can do what ever you want to your brother and sister. And then we can go home. But until then, I don't want a repeat of the embarrassment happened on here on Kyoshi Island. If you see either one of them, you leave them. Is that Clear!"

"Crystal!" She said deadly silent through gritted teeth.

"Good. I've spent to long away from home as is. The next time we see the Avatar, he better be in chains." Zuko finalized and was ready to turn and walk away.

"But why?" They both turned around when they heard Su speak. She had been silent through out the whole exchange but now, for some odd reason she felt compelled to speak. She didn't like the sudden attention she was receiving from the two teens and yet she continued. "Why must you capture the Avatar? He's just a child, why can't you just let him be?" She looked from Prince Zuko and then to Lori whose eyes had widened with a shocked and angered expression.

"WHY!" Zuko asked as he stormed toward her with much anger. Su was really starting to regret speaking out loud. She was just a slave, she had no reason to speak. As Zuko got closer she tried to back away fear building up as the Fire Nation Prince approached her with a terrifying fire in his eyes. "Why must we capture him? Because its my mission to capture him! It's my destiny to succeed where my father and his father before him had failed! He's the only one who can stop the Fire Nation and I won't stop until I see him in chains!" Zuko shouted, his anger growing even more from the audacity that Su had for speaking out loud.

The closer he got to more she backed away until she felt cold steel on her back. Her back was now to the wall and she had nowhere to escape the Prince's wrath, and she knew that Lori wasn't going to stop him. "B-but, but he's the Avatar. H-he's meant to bring b-balance to the world. He could end th-this war." She sputtered as Zuko was now in her face. The steel wall behind her was now getting warmer, most likely because of the anger radiating off the teen in front of her. "He could-"

"He could bring the downfall of the entire Fire Nation!" Zuko shouted. He was maybe an inch and a half shorter then Su, but he was still terrifying. Su wouldn't dare stand up to him, or risk getting hurt, killed, or worse. "He could destroy everything the Fire Nation has accomplished in the past hundred years, our society, our economy, our advancements, our traditions, all to rubble if I fail to capture him."

He was scary. Su whimpered in fear and knew she should be quiet. And yet she continued. Maybe it was her sense of right and wrong. Maybe it was the idea that the Avatar was out there was giving her hope. Maybe it was just her being stupid and not being able to keep quiet. "But he can end all the suffering in the world. He could bring peace. It would be wrong to capture him and keep him imprisoned, he's just a child and..."

Zuko slammed a fist into the wall beside her head erupting flames from the crash. Su cried out in fear and turned away feeling the heat from the small flames lick at her skin. She could've sworn he had just burned her. Zuko got closer speaking softly in a menacing tone. "I don't have to listen to the pleas of a pathetic Earth Kingdom peasant like _you_!" He said with such venom and malice. "The only reason your on this ship and not warming the bed of some Fire Nation admirals, is because my bodyguard decided to bring you along. But my patients has its limits, so don't push your luck!" He said before storming off.

Once Zuko was further down the hall, Su finally managed to let out the breath she was holding. She reached up to touch her neck, relieved that there was no burn. She looked to Lori who still held a look of disdain on her face, but she knew it was toward her. Su remained frozen in place as Lori walked past her, stopping for second. "Next time you feel brave, keep your damn mouth shut!" She said through gritted teeth and continued walking down the hall, leaving Su in place.


	10. The Vengeful

**Man this is a long one. I kinda lost it with this one, just please bare with me. Hopefully its worth it.**

* * *

On a clear night there a couple miles inland from the Ling Shu Port there was a Fire Nation Command Post. A Fire Nation Lieutenant Wei in his early forties was exiting the main gate, the Fire Benders standing guard saluting to him as he walked by and not questioning his business as to why he was going out in this late hour. None of his superior officers knew of his unauthorized outings. It added to the thrill. A little down the road he turns and enters the forest without a second thought unaware he is being watched by a masked figure.

He ventured deeper into the woods with a skip in his step as the excitement continued to build up inside. Following the faint dirt path of the forest leading to a large clearing in the middle of the woods. He had been looking forward to this night for weeks. After walking for another ten minutes he finally arrived at the clearing where he saw his expected guest along with a small caravan of wagons, pulled by two Elephant Mandrills. An Earth Kingdom man with a tattered brown cloak and a thick scarf around his neck. "I'm so glad your finally here sir." The Earth Kingdom man welcomed the Fire Nation Lieutenant. "Master Beifong has spoken highly of you. And it is a pleasure to be making your business acquaintance."

Lieutenant Wei smirked. Although it was frowned upon to be making dealing with Earth Kingdoms, it was still a good way of making money. He had managed to keep his disdain for the lesser people in order to do business. And it was good business. "I'm not here for business tonight."

"Ah, pleasure then." The merchant guesses. Wei nods. The merchant nods and walks over to each wagon, taking a pair of keys from his pocket and opening the heavy set locks from the doors. Inside of each of the three wagons was a teenage girl in shackles between fourteen and seventeen years of age, each lying on an assortment of pillows and bedsheets wearing short thin see-through silk gowns to allow full view of their assets in a tasteful view. Wei's smirk grew into a smile as the merchant pulled on the girls chains forcing them out of the wagons albeit with some resistance. When the three girls were finally standing still Wei began to eye them all as though they were pieces of meat. He takes his time sampling the merchandise, eyeing them up and down, caressing their cheeks, and touching their breasts. His eyes finally settle on one sixteen year old Earth Kingdom girl. He raises her chin forcing her to look him in the eye, theres anger in her eyes, but also fear. She wasn't sure if he recognized her after all these years but she remembered him. He smiles which frightened her more. Maybe she did recognize him. "An excellent choice. And of course a special discount for you sir." The merchant says before handing her to the Lieutenant and forcing the other girls into their wagons.

Wei pays the man and pulls the girl into the wagon with him. She sits down on the pillows and watches him get dressed, fearing what he's going to do to her. She doesn't want to do this. Even after being a slave for ten years, she's still a virgin, and she doesn't want to have it taken away by this brute. He is now in his undergarments and is kneeling in front of her. She turns away in disgust. He grabs her chin and forces her to look at him. He goes to kiss her but she spits in his face. Angered now he slaps her hard across the face. The harsh slap spins her around and she is now on her front lying on the pillows.

Outside, the merchant is circling around the clearing counting the gold in his hands. As much as he despised the high and mighty Fire Nation, they were his best customers. Earth Kingdom gold was nothing compared to Fire Nation gold. And people like Wei made for good business associates. Some of his most popular girls originally came form Wei anyway. As he rounded the third wagon, he heard a disturbance coming from his animals. He pocketed the coins turned around to investigate. Upon arriving he found nothing out of the ordinary. He chastised the animals for interrupting his money counting. Just as he turned around his eyes shot wide opened when he saw the masked person before him. "Wha-!" Before he could scream, he was silenced when a broad sword sliced his throat open. He clutched at his throat in a failed attempt to stop from bleeding. He collapsed to the ground and died in seconds.

Inside the wagon Wei was climbing on top of the girl prepared to enjoy himself. She could feel his heavy weight crush her. She tried to ask for forgiveness but it falls on deaf ears He holds her down as he whispers about the things he's going to do to her when the doors is suddenly opened. He grunts annoyed. "What now, I already paid-" He's interrupted as he's is pulled out of the wagon and thrown onto the ground. He growls slowly getting up as he tries to come up with an excuse to his superiors, believing he was caught. He cries out in pain as a hard foot crushes his wrist. He whips around and stares in horror at the figure standing before him brandishing a pair of swords and with a red mask with empty soulless eyes and a sickening bloody smile.

* * *

 _Lori couldn't remember how many days it had been since she was taken by the Fire Nation. She knew for sure it was more then the ten fingers on her hands. She wasn't as scared as she was before with the other girls who shared her imprisonment, taking comfort that she wasn't alone. The girls were no longer with her. She hadn't seen Su in a very long time. She was always nice to her, bringing her blankets when she got cold, bringing her food when she got hungry, and just staying with her and talking with her late into the night so she wouldn't be alone. She missed her. She hoped that she was okay._

 _She sat in the farthest corner of her dark cell hugging her knees, shivering and whimpering. When they first took her they tore her parka and left it behind, leaving her to freeze. She hugged her knees wanting to get warm by some means. They kept her locked up in this cell, never letting her go out for any reason, not even to go to the bathroom. They left her a chamberpot for when she needed to go but that wasn't enough. She couldn't go because it was always so cold, and often held it in until she just couldn't hold it in anymore. She really needed to go now, but couldn't find it in her to lose the little bit of warmth she had to go. They would feed her twice a day, or sometimes only once a day if they were feeling lazy, or maybe had just forgotten. She didn't like it here. She missed her family and wanted to go home. She missed being warm._

 _She looked up when she heard the sound the metal doors screech open leading into her cell. The Fire Nation soldier walked in and stood before the gate to her cell, holding a tray of food. He looked angry, starring down at her with angry golden eyes. He opened her cell and dropped the tray with a loud crash, not caring as the fish and roll of bread fell off and landed on the floor. Lori flinched as she heard the crash and hugged her knees tighter, shivering from the ever present cold. "Eat!" ordered the guard._

 _Lori looked up again afraid to say anything. She looked over to the food now splayed on the floor and then back up to the guard starring down at her with narrow eyes. "Whats wrong now!" He raised his voice making Lori flinch again. All of the guards were mean, and none of them were ever nice or patient. All they ever did was yell at her. She was afraid to speak, but her bladder was at its limit and she couldn't bare it anymore._

 _"I need go potty." She said quietly, hopping that he'd allow her to use a real bathroom. He just grunted and spoke with annoyance._

 _"You have a chamber pot right there!" he said pointing to the pot which sat in the corner._

 _Lori looked over to the chamber pot but then turned away again, once again feeling the cold surrounding the room. "It too cold." She said quietly._

 _"I don't care. Now Eat!" He said again shoving the tray forward toward her with his foot, the metal tray hitting Lori's feet. He was feeling fed up with her already. He turned around finally wanting to step out of this room._

 _In a moment of desperation Lori stood up and ran to him before he could lock the cell door and clutched onto the fabric of his uniform under his armor. "I want go home." She cried feeling scared and alone. It was obvious they didn't want her and hated her. There was no reason they should've taken her away from her home and family. She looked back up with tears in her eyes. "I want my mommy."_

 _With a disgusted look on his face he pushed her away. She fell back on the floor landing on her butt. The guard slammed his fiery fist into the wall yelling at her with anger. "I DON'T CARE! NOW SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH!" He shouted angrily. Lori cried out raising her arms to protect herself, fearing for her life from the guards wrath. He's mean. In her state of terror she suddenly felt her trousers become warm and wet and smelling foul. She peed herself and she wasn't the only one to notice. The guard began to smell the same foul smell until he came to the same conclusion._

 _"You disgusting-!" He said to himself as he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up dragging her behind him._

 _"No. No no. No." Lori cried out from fear and from the pain of the guards tight grip on her arm. The tears in her eyes spilling out rapidly from the pain and the terror. He was going to hurt her. He was going to punish her for wetting herself._

 _She cried as the guard dragged her out of her cell taking her down several corridors and through the hallways. Other guards just watched as she cried out in pain, not caring in the slightest of what was happening to her as the guard dragged her down the hall. They finally arrived to another room where the guard more or less tossed her inside. She fell on her knees and took a minute to get back up, now feeling more cold with her urine soaked clothes which had gone cold. The room was a lot bigger then where her cell was with three other doors on the walls. There were lit sconces on the walls lighting up the room bringing a false sense of welcoming. Fire Nation tapestries hung on the walls along with the crest of the Sea Ravens beneath the flame, a small wood burning stove was burning in the far corner keeping the room warm and in the center of the room was a small knee high table with stools on each side where a short and pudgy middle aged woman sat. "My goodness!" Said the woman wearing a red robe who approached the two. Lori didn't say anything as the woman approached and the guard told her of her accident. "You filthy little rat! Now I have to clean you too!" She said with anger and grabbed her arm with an iron grip. She wished Su was here. Su was much more caring and kind._

 _The woman pulled her into another room where she began to strip her naked to wash and clean her. Lori stood by an empty basin which began to fill up with water when the woman turned a nob, allowing the pipes to start spewing hot water. She was naked and cold from exposure, wrapping her arms around her wanting to get warm. This room was also warmer then her cell, but she was still freezing. The woman took a damp rag, dumping it into the basin and began her work on cleaning her. The woman was rough with her, not caring for her comfort, but just in getting the task done. She remembered how the men would talk about how she was a special delivery, which is why she was always separated from others. Clearly this woman didn't care. Lori whimpered as the woman rubbed hard on her skin with the rag and could feel skin turn raw and painful, making her miss her family even more. Her mother and Gran Gran were always comforting to the touch, this woman was just angry and spiteful. "I don't believe this. You Water Tribe savages can't even keep yourselves clean!" She curses more so to herself and continues rubbing hard against her back and backside._

 _When the woman was finally finished she took Lori back into the previous room and left her there alone with a towel draped over her. Lori touched her arms, her body, her face, feeling the painful raw skin. The woman rubbed too hard, cursing her the entire time. If the goal was to get her clean she didn't feel clean, just worn down. The woman discarded her clothes, not wanting to bother cleaning them. It was a few minutes till the woman returned with a pair of Fire Nation red childrens clothes along with the guard who first brought her here. She doesn't like the red clothes. "Put these on!" She ordered but Lori shook her head. "Put! These! On!" The woman says again and again Lori shook her head._

 _"I want mommy." She whimpers out._

 _The guard steps forward and slaps her across the face making her fall to the floor. "I'm getting sick and tired of you!" He says to her and goes to slap her again, but is stopped by another man. When Lori looks up she is shocked to see the man who first took her from her home._

 _"Calm yourself Wei. I've told you before, no damaging or sampling the merchandise without my say so." he said with much annoyance at the guard. "Especially not her, she's a very special delivery. If you can't be patient, your free to throw yourself overboard." He said to the guard who finally calmed him down, but didn't lose his sneered look. He just huffed and walked out of the room. The man mumbled something under his breath before turning back to her. He gestured to the clothes the woman still held in his arms. "Now you listen and you listen well, my patience with you is running thin and some of my men have half a mind to throw you overboard, however I can keep them from doing so. It's only a matter of time till we get to the Fire Nation, so I expect you to listen when someone tells you to do something. Do you understand!" He said to her with a harsh voice._

 _Lori whimpered but nodded nonetheless. The last thing she wanted was to be thrown in to the ocean and drown. She couldn't swim. "Okay." She said in a soft frightened voice._

 _"Good." The man said and then took the clothes and dropped them at her feet. "Now get dressed." He said and turned around and said something quietly to the woman before walking out the door. The woman, who still had an annoyed look on her face, pointed a harsh finger to the room from before, telling her to go in there to change. She did so without complaint._

 _Lori jumped as the door was slammed shut behind her. She splayed out the clothes on the floor taking a look at the Fire Nation attire she was given. Skinny black pants, a pair of red underwear, a red long sleeved dress which goes down stopping just below the knees and black with red trimmed cuffs, a black vest with red Fire Nation designs to it, a red sash for a belt and black pointed shoes. She had never seen clothes like these before. The fabric was strange. Not wanting to waste anymore time, she dropped the towel and started getting dressed._ _The clothes felt odd and loose on her body, the sash was tight around her waste and the shoes felt small. The fabric irritated her still aching skin. She didn't like these clothes, she missed her old blue clothes._

 _She stepped out of the room where the woman was impatiently waiting for her. When she took a look at her she sighed in disappointment. "You people can't even dress yourselves correctly." She sneered before fixing her clothes. The woman was rough once again, Lori wanted to protest but didn't dare. After the woman was finished with the sash, Lori felt the difference in her clothes already. Yes, they were much more comfortable now but they still irritated her skin. She didn't bother voicing her discomfort. "You should be grateful for having the chance to wear such fine clothing. None of those other girls got the chance that you have. You must be something special." Lori shot to look at her with worry. The other girls. What did she mean by that? What happened to the other girls? Before she could ask she saw the woman leave the room. After a minute the man from before, Wei, walked in, most likely preparing to take her back to her cell._

 _"Lets get going!" He said with a rough voice, making Lori shake. She stepped forward letting him know she was ready to go. He grabbed her arm and turned around to walk out when he stumbled on Lori's discarded Water Tribe clothes, still smelling like urine. Lori's eyes widened when she saw her old clothes. Making a disgusted sound, Wei picked up her old clothes. "Such disgusting..." He said as he opened the furnace and tossed them inside._

 _Lori watched in horror as he tossed her clothes into the fire seeing the flames burn her old Water Tribe blues, her last reminder of her home, her family, being devoured by the flames. Wei shut the grate closed. "NO!" She yelled with tears in her eyes as she ran to him, clutching at his uniform and trying to pull him away from the furnace as a last ditch attempt to save her burning clothes. Wei growled in anger and then smacked her away. Lori fell on her butt, her cheek stinging with tears running down her face. Wei stared down at her with much anger and disgust._

 _"YOU ROTTEN LITTLE RAT!" He yelled. He grabbed Lori's left arm tightly and pulled her off the floor. Lori cried out in pain feeling the agonizing pull in her shoulder as though her arm was going to dislocate. Wei slammed her hand on the small knee high table out stretching her fingers. He grabbed a big cleaver nearby. "THIS OUGHT TO TEACH YOU YOU DISGUSTING LITTLE RAT!" He yelled and slammed the blade onto her left pinky, cutting it off._

* * *

Wei's eyes widen in horror. He slowly tried to back away from the masked person. He knew who this was. The Red Wraith. They were responsible for the deaths of seven high ranking Fire Nation officers in the Taku before they abandoned it. And she most certainly remembered him. "Oh Spirits!" He exclaimed as he tried to crawl away but the minute his hand landed on the dirt he fell back again, crying in pain, forgetting that she had broken his hand. He turned back to the spirit who was slowly walking forward. "No please! Please I've done nothing-"

The Red Wraith didn't listen. She reached out and grabbed his throat pulled him so he was face to face. She didn't have a her gauntlet but her nails still dug into his neck. He struggled to breath. " _Talk!_ " She said in a gravely voice. " _Incident at prison rig! Prisoner caught Earth Bender! More then on expected schedule!_ "

Wei choked, grasping at the hand trying so that he could speak. She loosened her grasp, but just barely. He still struggled to speak. "Yesterday. Guards found two kids arguing. One of them Earth Bended. Well they first said it was a Lemur. The boy pointed out it was the girl. But it was strange." The Red Wraith raised an eyebrow beneath her mask. Why would the guards think an lemur was Earth Bending?

The girl in the wagon watched in astonishment and some what terror. This masked spirit saved her life, but it was more so just trying to get information rather then save was clear she had some vendetta against the Fire Nation perhaps she was a victim in a past life. Either way she wasn't going to argue with them. More so because she was afraid they would target them next. " _Strange? Why?_ " She asked. She squeezed tighter to add pressure. He choked a little more, before he could continue. The girl almost winced from his apparent pain.

"The two kids arguing, the Earth Bender, they were wearing Water Tribe clothes." The Red Wraith's eyes widened behind her mask. Water Tribe clothes. Katara and Sokka. "They were probably in disguise so no one would think twice. But then again, Water Tribe in the Earth Kingdom. Kinda stick outs."

" _Know this!? How!?_ "

"Friend of mine is the Warden. Messaged me personally." Of course it was them, it had to be them. And where ever they were, the Avatar was undoubtedly close by. She squeezed tighter trying to squeeze as much more information.

" _Keep Talking!_ " She growled.

He choked and struggled. It felt like if she squeezed any tighter, his neck would break. "Guards saw them day earlier. In some shop with weird bald kid in weird clothes. That's all I know I swear!" He managed to strain out. The Red Wraith let go and he collapsed choking and gasping for breath. He tried to pull himself away, fear taking over completely as the spirit's souless eyes stared at him. "Please. Just let me live. I won't say anything. I swe-" He was interrupted as she walked over and stomped on his chest.

She reached behind her pulled out a large hatchet. " _Men live_." She growled before slamming it onto his left pinky, severing the appendage. He cried out in agonizing pain, raising his now bleeding hand to look at the damage. " _Beasts get put down!_ " She growled and raised the weapon and slammed it into his skull. There was a sickening crack that would've made anyone hearing cringe. He was dead from the first blow but she didn't stop there. She with some resistance, she pulled out the hatchet and slammed it again. And again and again until she pulverized the mans head, leaving him unrecognizable. She picked up his severed pinky finger. A Trophy.

The girl in the wagon stared in horror at the blooding sight. Sure, he was a terrible person, but this. It seemed too much. Before she could do anything the spirit turned to her. Her eyes widened even more and she started crawling away until her back his the wall of the wagon.

The spirit did nothing, yet. She recognized her too. One of the other girls from ten years ago. She grabbed the keys from the dead merchant and tossed them to her. The girl paused for a moment, just staring at the the spirit confused until she took the keys and undid her shackles. She cautiously climbed out of the wagon, now a free woman again. "Thank you." She said with a smile growing on her face. "Thank you I don't know what to-" She was interrupted when the spirit grabbed her by the neck and pinned her against the wagon. The girl was scared once again.

" _Say nothing!_ " She said in a her gravely voice. " _Say anything_ -" She slammed the hatchet into the wall of the wagon, half a centimeter away from her ear. The girl jumped, but she could barely move from the spirits iron grip. "- _Will find you!_ " She threatened before letting her go and disappearing into the woods.

* * *

The two days later Prince Zuko's ship arrived at the prison rig where Earth Bending prisoners from a nearby Fire Nation controlled village were being used to mine coal for Fire Nation ships and factories. At least thats what they first believed initially. When they arrived sometime before sunset, there were no prisoners of any sorts. No Earth Bender prisoners. No Earth Benders posing as Water Tribe. The only ones onboard were the guards and other Fire Nation crew. Upon their arrival they were welcomed with sneers by the on board crew. It seemed as though they were unwelcome where ever there was a Fire Nation presence.

Lori could understand why she would be unwelcome. She was Water Tribe not only that, there were rumors that she was a Water Bender. She took no head for those rumors. No did she care for the stares she received from the other Fire Nation. However there was something else in the looks from one or two soldiers, more so then just disdain and annoyance. Perhaps recognition? Maybe. She hoped so. If they "recognized" her, it means that "she" was here before. _She_ was here before.

But they should be ashamed for treating her Prince the same way. He was their Prince they should be bowing to him and giving him the grand tour instead of looking at him with displeasure and coming up with reason as to why they can't help him. The warden approached them with an angered and annoyed expression on his face. Leaving the the warden and her Prince to talk, she wandered around the grounds to investigate. He kept an eye on her before beginning with the Prince. "Prince Zuko. It is a surprise to see you here." Addressed the warden."Apologies for the mess. What brings you to my Prison?" He aksed with annoyance which he didn't even try to hide.

"We heard from a reliable source that there was a person of interest that had arrived a few days ago." Zuko said straight to the point. "We believe this person might have a connection with the Avatar."

Lori was off to the side doing her own investigation. In one area of the prison she could feel a shift beneath her boots. She looked down at the metal floor. "I assure you Prince Zuko there has been any suspicious behavior in resent days. No one whose not supposed has been here in the past few days." The warden said. There was something black all over the floor. Something else other then the metal floor. She bent down as she heard her Prince say something to the warden, removing her glove from her left hand and wiping two fingers across the floor. She looked at the her two fingers now covered a black residue. Not ash or soot. "I'm sorry but your mistaken. There hasn't been any incident in recent weeks. We report any incident that occurs." She took a whiff of the black residue. She then rubbed her fingers together seeing it slowly fall the floor once again. _Coal Dust._ She thought to herself. She then walked over to the biggest eye sore on the rig. "Noting happened here Prince Zuko. I can assure you." The warden said.

"Yes, that explains the gaping hole in the floor." She said aloud grabbing the attention of her Prince and the warden. She bent down and reach over the edges of the hole, feeling more black residue. She repeated her methods from before. The same results. "more coal dust." She said quietly to herself. Coal dust means there was coal around here. Just sitting around. Why would they leave coal around Earth Benders? Unless there was a breakout.

"Care to explain?" Zuko said to the now sweating warden.

"Of course. There was a malfunction with one of our machines. It blew a hole in the floor and we've been working on getting it repaired. There were no fatalities or severe injuries." The warden answered. Neither Zuko nor Lori were convinced. Something happened here. It was obvious. "We had to move the prisoners back to another sight to make sure they didn't take advantage of this and try and escape."

Lori walked off to where a couple of men were busy with clean up near the edge of the rig. She were startled when she approached. "What happened here?" She asked them firmly. One of the men, a younger fellow, started mumbling something unintelligible as though he was trying to come up with something to say. He unnerved her. _Good_. She thought. Before he could reply another guard maybe twice her age stood forward with a stern look on her face.

"Nothing happened here _Warrant Officer._ " He said, mentioning her rank in a mocking tone. "Even if something did happen, you have no authority here. So I suggest you get moving." He threatened. Lori looked at his lapel to see he held the rank of Sargent 1st Class. Despite that, her rank patch which bore the patch of Warrant Officer also held the crest of the Dragon of the West, giving her a special status higher then most. She probably out ranked everyone here on the rig.

"I asked you a question, _Sargent_. And I expect a real answer." She said back sternly which garnered the attention of the other men. The Sargent stood tall and maintained his stance.

"And I already told you, _nothing_ happened here. Just a malfunction with the machines. I wouldn't expect a _little girl_ to understand." He sneered trying to get to her.

Lori didn't even flinch from the insulting remark. However, with her hands behind her back, one hand had reached for her crossbow which was still in it holster behind her waist. One of her fingers hovered over the action. "You will show me respect. And you will tell me a real answer when I ask a question." She replied coldly.

"You don't deserve anything. Your nothing but a stupid Water Tribe whore, meant to wait for the Banished Prince by his bedside." He said he would soon regret it.

Lori reached out, grasping the coaler of his uniform and nearly pushing him over railings and hanging him over the water below.. He screamed from horror knowing without even looking down that if she dropped him into the water, he'd die. He grabbed at her risk, fearing for his life. One of the other guards tried to intervene but Lori pulled out her Crossbow now loaded and ready and pointed at him before he could come near. The Sargent's screams caught the attention of everyone on the rig, including the warden and Zuko. "Whats going on!" The warden questioned as the two neared the sight. "Let him down now Warrant Officer."

Lori turned to the Warden with a raised eyebrow. "Really?" She asked smirking. "Okay." She said before loosening her gripping giving the illusion that she was going to drop him to his death. The other guards panicked as she toyed with them. The Sargent screamed louder.

"Stop this madness! Now!" The warden ordered. He was the only one Lori didn't outrank, but she had other methods.

"Of course. As soon as I get the information I want." She said once again testing her willingness to drop the Sargent. "There was a breakout wasn't there. The Earth Benders used the coal to attack you men and escape. And I'm betting the Avatar was here too! He helped them escape. He along with his companions in water tribe clothes!" She summarized waiting for a confirmation or contradiction. The warden was silent, not giving her a response. "Well?" She tested one more time. "My arms getting tired." She threatened. Still nothing.

She was about to drop him when a voice spoke up. "Yes there was prison break this morning." The younger guard finally said. "The Earth Benders used the coal to fight back and escape. Thats what we heard. None of us were here when it happened, we only just hours ago." He said. No one seemed to argue but the warden was mighty pissed.

"Well." The warden said. "You got your answer now release the Sargent." He said and she gladly obliged. She released her grasp on him, letting him fall to his death. Zuko's eyes widened in horror as he watch the Sargent disappear over edge of the platform, his shock joined by the shouts and gasps of horror of the other men and the Sargent who screamed in horror only to then be silenced soon after. As Lori walked away the other men ran over to railing to see the Sargent was lying safely on the protective mesh netting meant to prevent accidents like this.

"He's okay." One of the guards said. Everyone breathing a sigh of relief. Even Zuko was relieved by the circumstance but his attention was caught by something else. Something that most definitely wasn't supposed to be here.

The Wardens heart began to calm down. Lori collapsed her crossbow and holstered it again before walking over to him. "The Avatar was here wasn't he. And he had friends too." She asked with narrowed eyes. The Warden said nothing, not liking this girl even less then before. Threatening the life of a good Fire Nation Sargent to get answers. _Typical Water Tribe savage_. His silence didn't deter her. "And I bet one of those friends of his was girl. Perhaps a girl who looked like me?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't have to answer your questions." He said.

"You don't have to." They heard Zuko say. They both turned to him as he approached him with something in his hand. "Look familiar?" He asked as he tossed the object in his hand to his bodyguard.

Lori caught it in mid air and examined the object of interest. It was a necklace of sorts. A choker. Water Tribe in design. Fine quality, unlike most things from the Southern Water Tribe. Therefore it was unique by nature. It was her mothers necklace. The same necklace that Katara now wore. She was right. They were here. Probably leading the prison break. The question was, why did Katara even have their mothers necklace to begin with? "My mothers necklace." She said flatly as she put it in her pocket.

"Which means you sister was here." He said. Lori nodded. He turned his attention back to the Warden unpleased. "Which means the Avatar _was_ here." Zuko said. "And you let him escape." Lori could hear it in his voice. It was so good to put the blame on someone else for once.

"Well. I believe that you have what you came here for. You can see yourselves out." The Warden said leaving the two to join his men.

Lori and Zuko didn't say anymore. They just turned around and started their way toward the exit. "How did know about the mesh?" Zuko asked his bodyguard.

"Honestly it kinda slipped my mind." She answered.

"So you didn't even know he'd be safe? You were just going to kill him?" She just shrugged. He shook his head and gave a disappointed sigh.

Before they made it out they heard another guard approach the Warden. "Sir I have bad news." He said slightly hushed, but they could still hear. "Lieutenant Wei was found dead near the woods outside the Command Post near Ling Shu Port." He said stopping Zuko and Lori from the sudden news. They had just come from Ling Shu Port. "They say it was the Red Wraith."

Zuko's gaze narrowed as he turned to Lori suspiciously. She said or did nothing to indicate she had any information about this. He remembered the night before they left, he caught her sneaking back on board. She thought she was in the clear, but he knew. "What!" The Warden exclaimed. "How do they know it was the Red Wraith?"

"I'm not sure. Something about a missing pinky finger. His left pinky."

Zuko's eyes went back to Lori. Once again nothing. "So much for your source." He said mildly annoyed before continuing to their ship.

"It got us here didn't it." She replied following close behind.

"Thats not the point."

* * *

When they arrived from the Prison Rig they were arguing again. There argument turned into shouting. Su didn't like it. She didn't like how the Prince treated Lori. He was saying something about how she couldn't keep pulling stunts, whatever that meant. Either way she couldn't stand it. She was supposed to be his bodyguard, so he had no right to treat her that way. She was still a person. "We can't stay here anymore." She told herself in secret. They had to leave. She didn't know where it came from, but she had felt a sense of bravery when she initiated her plan. Maybe because she wasn't doing it for herself. It was also for Lori. Even though it had been ten years she still saw her as the small little girl who so desperately wanted to see her family again. And thats what gave her courage.

Later that evening she had prepared the tea that General Iroh had requested. She added a special herb before taking it to the attendant to bring it to the royals. Once she was in the clear she ran to look for Lori. they had to leave as soon as possible. She might relent and resist, but this was to save her just as she saved her from the Fire Nation Harbor. She would thank her later.

Lori was in her room taking her book from her footlocker. She turned the pages until she found the one with a portrait of Lieutenant Wei, ten years younger with a bloody _X_ marked over it. She smiled. Another one was dead. She just had a few more to go before her book was complete. She placed the book back beside the jar of severed fingers and locked the footlocker. She massaged the empty spot on left hand where her pinky used to be. She sometimes felt the phantom pain from when that bastard cut it off ten years ago. Maybe she lost it a little when she killed him. Oh well.

She had already removed her weapons and gauntlet, before she could remove the rest of her armor she heard a knock at her door. With a groan she opened it to the surprising sight of a nervous looking Su. "Su? What is it?" She questioned. Su said nothing. Just staring at Lori's bandaged right hand. She choked. Prince Zuko had probably done that. He did, she was sure. He hurt her for no reason, probably just cause so she would be submissive. It angered her.

Without saying anything, Su grabbed her wrist and pulled her out the room and dragging her down the hall. Lori was surprised by this wondering if this was still the same Su from before. "Su what are you doing?" She demanded an answer but she got no response as they rounded the corner into another section of the ship. Su was determined to drag her all across the ship. She finally managed to stop her with a hard grip on her hand. She turned around looking at Lori now annoyed. "Su answer me! What the hell are you doing!"

Su turned to back to her seeing the distressed look on her face. Panic began to rise in her. "We have to go now. We're running out of time." She explained and pulled on Lori's arm to keep moving but she didn't budge.

"Make time!" She said more sternly and tightening her grip on Su's hand.

Su winced in pain. Deciding she couldn't fight her her, she finally told her. "We're going to leave. Be Free. I made some tea for General Iroh and Prince Zuko, but I added some herbs. Kinda like a special type of poison of sorts. It-"

Lori's eyes widened in horror. The only words she heard were _Tea, Zuko, Poison_. She posioned Zuko. Her Prince was being poisoned. "You what?" She asked. She was now crushing Su's hand and pulled her toward her so she was face to face. "YOU DID WHAT!" She nearly shouted with through gritted teeth.

"I did it for you. So we could get out of here and be free again." She said with a bright face as though this, killing her Prince was justified. Lori pulled away, her hands going to her hair like she was about to tear it from her skull. She couldn't believe this was happening, turning around so she couldn't see the delightful look on Su's face. "You saved me from that Fire Nation Harbor. I was doing the same for you. Now we need to get going now before-"

"Go back to your room." Lori said pulling her hands back down now turning into fists.

"What? I don't-"

She whipped around startling Su with the look of rage on her face she had never seen before. "GO BACK TO YOU ROOM!" She nearly shouted through gritted teeth as she took off running deeper into the ship. She ran as fast a possible, running like a rabid animal, pushing aside anyone who was in her way. She didn't care for the stares that were on her as she ran by, her only priority was to find her Prince. She didn't bother taking the ladder up, she instead took the longer route around the outside of the coning tower, going up the stairs until she reached the walkway to the bridge. She saw through the windows hoping she wasn't too late, but still to scared to see if she was. Over looking the map was Prince Zuko as busy as ever and by the short Pai Sho table was General Iroh. She saw the server had only just arrived with the tray of tea. It hadn't been served yet. She breathed a sigh of relief knowing that they were still safe.

After catching her breath she entered the bridge swinging the door wide to grab everyones attention. All eyes were on her now. "Hello Lori." Her elder welcomed with a smile. "What brings you by?"

She tried to sound as casually as possible. "As the Prince's bodyguard it is my responsibility to know where he is at all times. For his safety of course." She answered.

"I told you I was coming here." He retorted with a raised eyebrow.

"And I came by to make sure. It had been such a long time."

"That was only an hour ago-"

"Don't question me Prince Zuko. Its all for your safety." She said more sternly which garnered snickers from the crew. "You never know something could've happened within that hour." She kept up the facade enough, no one noticed her swallow hard. "So I guess that will be it then."

Iroh gestured for to the server who had been standing there awkwardly this entire time. "Would you care for some tea dear?" He offered kindly.

"No thank you Uncle. Well I'll be off now." She motioned to give the Fire Nation salute and deliberately knocked the tray out of the servers hands spilling the tea all over the floor. Everyone was shocked by the sudden crash. Iroh was nearly in tears from the spilled tear. "I'm am so sorry. I don't know what came over me." She apologized before walking out. "I'll have the chief make another batch." She said and climbed down the ladder reentering the corridors of the ship. Crisis averted. Now all that was left was to find Su.

She threw the large door open and startling Su with the sudden crashed. She stepped inside and slammed the door shut. She walked over to the nearby desk where a candle was burning. She unsheathed one of her daggers and placed over the flame to heat the blade. She stood over the desk seething in rage. Her fists were clenched tightly, Su could see she was angry. She slowly stood up and cautiously approached the younger girl. "Is everything alright?" She asked. Her only response was Lori grabbing her wrist and twisting it painfully. Su nearly fell from the sudden pain trying to pull away but Lori's grip on her was too tight. Her hand was crushing he wrist, she was sure it would break. Lori turned around and finally let go of her hand only to then grab her by the neck. Once again Su grasped at her trying to break free from her hold but to no avail. She tried to speak and plead with her to let her go, but she could barely breath.

"How dare you!" She whispered deathly quiet into her ear. She slammed her into the wall, her back aching from the sudden impact. "After everything we've done for you! And you do this!" She punched her hard in the stomach. She finally let her go as Su doubled over, coughing up whatever she had to drink early that day. She struggled to breath, her stomach still collapsed. Before she could move to get up Lori kicked her hard across the face and she was now on her back, her face now bleeding mixing with the tears.

She waited for Su to get back up but she was growing impatient as Su writhed on the floor. "Get up!" She growled as she forced her up by the shoulders and shoved her into the wall. Su was crying now.

"Lori please." She pleaded and Lori only responded with punching her again in the gut and then across the face. She collapsed this time onto her cot, now being stained with her blood. Lori stepped on the back of her knee and then pulled her up by her hair. "Tell me! Why did you do it!?" She ordered. A few sobs escaped her before she could reply.

"To save you." was her reply. That still didn't explain anything. Lori yanked harder demanding she explain further. "I know Prince Zuko's been hurting you. Yelling at you. I didn't want what happened to me happen to you." She explained which made Lori fume even. What she talking about their arguments? Thats all it ever was. Just arguments. Their just people, they do that sometimes. And Zuko would never hurt her. She knew he wouldn't. And if it was during training, well accidents happened. Still that was no reason for Su to have acted in such a way. She slammed her head into the wall, the sound reverberating around the room. The only other sounds in the room were her sobs as she clutched her now bleeding head.

Su stepped away not trusting herself to not kill her right now. "So you decided to _kill_ him. To _poison_ him and the General with tea!?" She turned around and kicked her again in the stomach before stepping away again. She was fuming, flexing her hands to keep her calm which she was slowly losing to quickly. She looked over at the dagger now with a dim glow. Just about ready.

"It wasn't poison." She whimpered out grabbing Lori's attention. She turned around to face her in surprise as she was slowly trying to get up. "It would've just put them to sleep. They would've woken up after a few hours so we could escape." Lori visibly relaxed. So they weren't really in danger. Still her eyes narrowed. She walked over and once again yanked her up by her hair.

"And yet you still did it." She grabbed her by the neck choking her. "You still tried spiked their tea. If your brave enough to do that. Your brave enough to poison them." She dragged her over to the nearby table, Su, the entire time is crying, pleading with her that she would never have done that. Even though she hates the Fire Nation, she could never be brave enough to kill. Not even them. Lori did not listen. She slammed her head into the desk. Su couldn't take anymore she was sure she was going to kill her. That wasn't the goal, it was to teach her a lesson. "So I now have to teach you a lesson." She spat as she gripped her right hand and slammed into the table and grabbed her not glowing hot dagger. "Don't ever cross me again!" She said and slammed the blade onto her right pinky, severing the finger. Su screamed trying to tear her hand away but Lori's grip was iron tight and kept it in place as she led the glowing blade cauterize the wound. Finally, when the smell of burning flesh was to much she let her go.

Su was writhing in pain and clutching her right hand to her chest. She curled up into a ball and cried, her body in so much pain and wanting for it all to go away. She realized far too late that she was wrong. So very much wrong. She wasn't the same girl from ten years ago. She wasn't the same scared little girl she. She was all grown up and she was terrifying.

"You can have the next few days off." Lori sneered before storming out of the room and slamming the door shut. She marched to her cabin, a permanent scowl on her face and fuming with rage. She ignored the questioning glances from the other crew members, wanting only to get to the sanctity of her cabin. Upon arriving she shut her door and locked it to be alone. No one would dare just walk in without permission but still. She took deep breaths trying to calm herself, and grabbing and pulling clumps of her hair, wanting the pain to distract her from the possibilities.

 _What if she had been braver_. She asked herself over and over again the big _What If_ , and the ones that followed. What if she had used actual poison instead of a sedative? What if she didn't tell her? What if she was too? She fell back against the wall the image of everyone lying dead on the floor. Her elder and her Prince, her family. _Spirits! Zuko._ Seeing Zuko, the most important person in her life, lying dead on the floor, being too late to save him. She reached down into her shirt and pulled out her pendant. A yellow sun with a dragon coiled in its center on a small golden chain. One half of a set. Zuko had the other.

* * *

 **Well I hope that was enjoyable for ya'll. The next couple chapters are going to be about the past, how Lori first arrived in the Fire Nation and met Iroh and Zuko. I hope ya'll are looking forward to it.**

 **Also to those of ya'll who are into to DC, have ya'll been reading _Doomsday Clock_? This last issue (#8), _DAAAAAAAAAMN!_**

 **I love it and Watchmen.**


	11. I Still Remember: The Fire Nation

Lori remembers how she got her pendant. She still remembers the day she first arrived in the Fire Nation.

* * *

 **Ten Years Ago**

 _Four months. Thats what Lori heard one of the guards say. It had been four months since she was first taken from her home. Four months since she was taken away from her family. She missed them so much. She wanted to go back home. She wanted to go back to her family. But she knew it would never happened. She gave up on the dream that they would just turn around and take her back home days ago when they changed ships. That was the last time she saw any of the other girls that were on the ship when they were taken by some tall man in Earth Kingdom uniform. After those girls were gone, she was now truly alone._

 _She was lying down on the dirty mat they gave her to sleep on when she heard the door open as quietly as it could. As much as a steel door could be quiet. Lori sat up waiting for the guard to walk in, but was caught by surprise when she saw an older girl in a cloak instead of a man in uniform. By the way she shimmied through the barely cracked door and then closed it behind her. She turned around and pulled back the hood of her cloak to reveal a familiar face. one that she hadn't seen in a long time. "Su?" She asked in a weak voice._

 _Su smiled at the recognition. She walked over to the cell and opened a the cell door Lori pulled away hoping that she wasn't here to hurt her. Lori smile dropped at the act. She stepped closer and dropped to her knees staring at the small girl with worry. It was then the she noticed that Lori was now wearing Fire Nation clothing. Dirty Fire Nation clothing._

 _"Lori its me. You know I won't hurt you." She said softly in that voice Lori remembered. She was always nice to her. She ran over to her and hugged her. Su hugged her back squeezing her tightly in her arms. She missed this little girl and was glad she was safe. "I so happy your okay." She whispered. "I'm sorry I haven't come to see you. They had me attending to other duties, but I managed to sneak away for a moment. She pulled away slightly wanting to look at her face but Lori pulled her, burying her face into her chest. She could hear her sobs. Su gently brushed her hair down the same way her own mother used to do to calm her down. "Shh sh sh. Its okay honey. Its okay. Don't worry I won't let them hurt you."_

 _Lori finally pulled away a little so she could look her in the eyes. Su stared back in at her in question seeing the pained look on the little girls face._

 _"They hoot me." She whimpered out. She looked down as Su's expression changed to shock. "They hoot me." She said again as she raised her left hand to show her pinky was missing. Su gasped in horror. How could those monsters do that to a little girl? She enclosed her little hand in both of hers and giving it a little kiss. She pulled Lori into another hug and buried her face into her hair._

 _"I'm sorry." Su said planting a small kiss on the top of her head and felt some tears rolled down her face. She was a failure. How could she let those monsters mutilated this little girl like that. "I'm so sorry honey. I didn't know."_

 _Lori told her of how it happened. How the mean guard had yelled at her and she wet herself. How the guard had then taken her to the woman who rubbed her bottom really hard to get it clean. How the guard slapped her and then burned her Water Tribe clothes. (Thats why she had Fire Nation clothes.) The part where he cut her finger off was the hardest part. She choked a couple times unable to finish the story. Su gave a another hug and told her she didn't need to continue. She hated not being able to be here for her. She would have gladly taken that fire ball if it meant that Lori was spared that torment and unharmed. She's lived these years with ten good fingers she could live the rest of her life with only nine. Anything to spare Lori and keep her pure. But when it came to the Fire Nation it seemed as though nothing could remain pure. But still, she did what she could._

 _After Lori finished crying she stayed in Su's embrace, not wanting to lose the warmth of this older girl who had cared for her. "I brought you a little something." She heard the older girl say. "I hope it'll cheer you up." She pulled away and saw Su reach into her dress pocket and pull out a Moon Peach. Lori's eyes widened as she snatched fruit from her hands and started biting into it. Su smiled and gave a little giggle. Since she had been on this ship, Lori had come to love Moon Peaches. It was her new favorite snack. She hadn't eaten all day so the little piece of fruit was a spirit send and eagerly bit down on it. Lori was to busy enthralled in her snacking that she almost forgot her what her Gran-Gran had always taught her. There was still a quarter of the moon peach left so she outstretched it to the older girl._

 _"Shae?" She said quietly. Su just smiled more at the gesture of kindness. She shook her head not wanting to take away from the girls moment. Lori didn't take it for an answer as she shook the fruit a little to emphasize her offer. "Shae."_

 _It seemed as though she wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer and so Su took the remaining piece a fruit and pulled off a smaller piece for herself before giving it back to Lori. Lori smiled that she accomplished something good. "Thank you very much Lori." Su said before eating the smaller piece in one bite._

 _There time was cut short when Su heard loud footsteps coming from down the hall and her face began to pale. She looked back down to Lori who was still enthralled in her remaining piece of Moon Peach, now slowing down to savor every delicious bite, to notice. Su stood up and backed out of the cell, and thats when Lori took notice, her urgency replacing the happy moment she felt with dread. "Someones coming." She whispered before shutting the cell door and locking it again. Seeing Lori now standing at the door with a look of betrayal on her face and the whimper she made broke her heart. She bent down to get at eye level with her. "I'm so sorry but I'm not supposed to be here." She said and then stood back up to make her escape before she could be found._

 _A guard opened the door to the brig and immediately saw Su. In place she wasn't supposed to be. She looked up at him with wide eyes. He had something in his hand, she couldn't really see it in the shadow. "What are you doing here?" He asked sternly._

 _Su was at a loss for words. She wasn't supposed to be here and he knew it. She was trying to come up with a convincing lie, but when she opened her mouth nothing came out. The guard stepped forward until he was near face to face wth her. Or at least chest to face. He was much taller then she was. The words were stuck in her throat feeling the over whelming sense of fear rising. Fear for her herself and Lori. "I, well I..."_

 _"Spit it out!" He ordered making Su jump from the force of his voice. Him clenching his fist was bad news for her and she didn't want anything else to happen to her. And spirits forbid anything happen to Lori. "I, I was getting the prisoner ready." Se finally managed to say as firmly as possible._ _The guards eyebrow raised at her answer._

 _"Under whose order?" He asked._

 _Su was nearly stumped once again, she opened her mouth looking for the name she had heard often during her time on board. Who had been in charge of bringing Lori food. The name was on the tip of hr tongue. "Private Wei as, ordered me to do so." She answered._

 _Lori flinched at the name. Private Wei. That was the name of the mean man who cut her finger off. She could feel her the empty spot on her hand ache at the mention of the name. The guards eyes narrowed at her and Su swallowed. He knew she was lying. He slowly started walking forward, causing Su to walk backward. She knew she was caught._

 _"Sargent Wei was transferred off the ship two weeks ago. So I asked again, who ordered you to come down here!" He said sternly and sweat began to roll down the back of Su's neck. Su's back was now against the wall as the guard got closer._

 _"I, um..." She couldn't find the words to speak. She saw the guard had grown impatient she could feel the heat radiating off him as he grew angrier. '_ Just please not in front of her' _. She thought to herself._

 _"Just get out of here." He order with his thumb pointing toward the door. Su said nothing but cautiously walked around the guard toward the door. Before she could make her escape, the guard grabbed her arm whispering something in her ear. "I'm expecting you to return the favor. I don't like it when cry so loud, no matter how much it hurts." A couple tears escaped Su's eyes as he let her go and she made her way out the door, her hand grasping at her wrist where a burn was from last time._

 _It wasn't the same guard who cut off her pinky finger, but that didn't mean she was gonna start complaining again. She learned her lesson when the guard from before cut her finger off. From what Lori could see he held some kind of round thing in his hand along with chains. It didn't look like some kind of whip or anything. She wasn't sure if he was going to hurt her or not. She wasn't going to risk asking a question. She just stood there silently as the guard watched her. He finally put the key in the door and disengaged the lock, swinging the door open._

 _"Come here!" He ordered. After a second she stepped forward and stepped outside her cell._

 _For a while nothing happened. Lori just stared at him waiting for him to say or do something. By the way she had to look up at him, it made her feel small. Smaller then she was, like a baby Otter Penguin, so small and tiny. She missed the penguins. She was tempted to go back in her cell and curl up in the corner. She was caught by surprise when the guard bent down to get to her level. She panicked momentarily unsure what he was planning on doing. She felt something cold, something metal around her neck and heard a click. She reached up to grab it to feel what it was. A collar. She started tugging on it, the metal restraint feeling tight and uncomfortable around her neck. She felt like she was choking. She started whimpering, pulling harder on the device wanting to get it off badly. Soon her wrists were grabbed by the guard and he placed shackles over her wrists. She whimpered even more._

 _"Don't like it. Too bad." The guard said as he pulled on the chains her restraints were connected too forcing her to stumble out of the cell. "Lets go." He ordered and started walking out of the brig. Lori followed close behind or else invoking the wrath of the guard._

 _Upon exiting the brig and getting into the halls she saw that Su was still there waiting for them. She hadn't completely abandoned her. Upon seeing her Su's eyes widened at her restraints. The shackles around her wrists were one thing, but the collar around her neck, those were meant for animals. She was just a little girl, and they were treating her like an animal. It was cruel and wrong._

 _"What are you still doing here?" The guard asked to Su. Su brought her attention back to him._

 _"Why is she in chains?"_

 _"We're taking her topside. Delivering a special surprise for the Fire Lord." The guard answered almost with what sounded like a smirk on his face. Lori couldn't tell. She wasn't sure who the Fire Lord was, but from the look on Su's face, it wasn't good. She was scared once again. The only thing she had left was the piece of Moon Peach she had left over._

 _"The, the Fire Lord?" She repeated in disbelief._

 _"Whats it to you anyway. And you better get out of here if you know whats good for you." The guard warned. He turned back to Lori having an annoyed look on his face. He saw that Lori was now holding a piece of fruit. He narrowed his eyes and turned back to Su. "You brought her food!?" He asked accusingly._

 _Su froze not looking at him and only at the little girl. "I, I thought she would be hungry and..."_

 _The guard turned back at Lori starring at the little piece fruit in her hand. Lori saw this. Maybe he was grumpy because he was hungry. She thought, maybe if she shared with him he would be less grumpy. She outstretched her hand offering her left over snack. "Shae?" She offered in a tiny voice._

 _The guard looked disgusted and smacked the food away from her hand, the fruit slamming into the wall and falling onto the floor. Lori watched it fall with a broken look on her face. Her last piece of food gone._

 _"Hey!" Su raised her voice to the guard catching both him and Lori by surprise. When the guard turned to face her she almost regretted it, but he had no right to treat Lori like that when she was only trying to be nice._

 _"Did you just raise your voice at me!?" The guard spat at her. As scared as she was Su didn't falter, even when she knew she should have._

 _"You shouldn't treat her like that. She was just offering you her piece of Moon Peach." She said softly but she tried to keep it firm._ _The guard didn't take too kindly to her act of defiance and slapped her across the face. She fell back, hitting the wall rather hard._

 _"Now, I'm really gonna make it hurt." He whispered with venom as he turned back to Lori. "Move!" He growled and tugged on Lori's restraints as he pulled her down the hall._

 _Lori didn't bother fighting him and just followed him. She turned back around to see Su slowly getting back up and staring back at her with tears in her eyes. She was getting smaller and smaller as they walked further away from her down the wanted to help in some way but knew there was nothing she could do. Even though she wanted Su to be with her, she didn't want her getting hurt because of her. They turned the corner and suddenly she could only see the metal wall of the hall. That was the last time she would ever see Su._

 _The walk was long and tedious. The strange shoes around she was wearing were tight and uncomfortable. Since she spent all her time in a cell, she didn't have time to walk around and break them in. All this walking made her feet ache. She wanted to cry and whine to the guard if they could take a break, this new ship was massive, a whole lot bigger then the other one so she knew that there was still a long way to go, but she didn't want to anger the guard anymore. She chose to suffer in silence._

 _When they finally climbed up a long flight of stairs they reached a large door that swung open by two standing guards. She was almost blinded by the bright morning sun. It took time some time to regain her vision, but when she did, she saw that they were in a place she had never seen before. Tall and massive ships were on either side of her and there were towers along a stone like road watching over them. Guards in the red and black Fire Nation armor were lined all across the ships and the roads. Off in the distance she saw large buildings of stone and metal adorned with gold dragons and struts with guards posted at each door way and farther off by near the mountains there looked what seemed be a castle. She wagons and animals wandering around keeping the perimeter clear. Between each buildings were a string of lanterns emitting a bright golden light to light the roads darkened by the tall_ _buildings. Out of one of the buildings cam more soldiers and officers to watch over the massive ship yard. Everything here was massive. Lori saw things she had never seen in the Southern Water Tribe. By one of the largest buildings in the yard hung a large Fire Nation banner. The Fire Nation. She was in the Fire Nation._

 _Close by the railing was a long metal bridge that led off the ship and onto the shipyard. From the land came three officers in more grander armor then the men here. They spoke with the leader of the ship. The same man who took her from the South Pole._

 _"Yon Rha? Its a surprise to see you here. What business do the Southern Raiders having returning to the Fire Nation." One of the officers with large side burns asked._

 _The Leader, now named Yon Rha pulled a scroll and showed it to the officer. "The paper work is here Lieutenant Zhao. We're delivering a very rare delicacy to the Fire Lord." He said with a prideful look on his face._

 _The officer, Zhao, unrolled the scroll and read the parchment, His eyes widened as he read the words, they went wider even when he saw it held the Fire Nation royal seal. This was authentic. "A Water Bender. From the Southern Water Tribe. I thought they were wiped out."_

 _Yon Rha's smirk grew. "We have ways of weeding them out." He said._

 _After one more look at the paper work Zhao finally gave the go ahead. "Your free to pass." He said rolling up the scroll and thrusting it into Yon Ra's chest. Before departing off the ship. It was clear Zhao wanted whatever glory would come with delivery such a prize to the Fire Lord, and was infuriated that it would be going to Yon Rha._

 _Yon Rha officer turned back around and to where the guard and Lori were waiting. The look in his eyes made Lori quake in fear. What was he planning._ _Yon Rha waved them over and the guard approached them. Lori made sure to follow in pace not liking it when he tugged in her chains. The guard handed Yon Rha the chains and he saluted before walked away. Yon Rha looked down at her with a disgusted look in his eye. He turned around and yanked on her chains hard causing her to fall. She felt a pain in her neck as the collar hit her neck. She wanted to whine but kept her mouth shut. No one here would care._

 _As they walked across the bridge Lori looked over to see the water level was really down. If she fell in, no on would be able to save her. Once they were on land again, they approached a wagon with some kind of metal box behind it. The wagon was being pulled by two giant bird like creatures she had never seen before. In front of the box wagon was another ornate wagon with golden trim and dragon designs on it, pulled by a pair of similar bird like creatures. They were nothing like penguins. Fire Nation animals were weird. A guard opened the cell door on the box. Yon Ra pointed inside._

 _"Get in!" He ordered her. She looked to him and then to the box. It was dark. The floor was wooden the walls looked dirty with railings on the side with locks and two rings on the roof. On each wall were small slits for windows. They were really high and she was small. She wouldn't be able see through them. She back to him, with an impatient look on his face. She looked back to the cell and approached it she reached out to grab onto the flooring and tried to pull herself up. She strained to pull herself over to climb inside but she was to small and the little food they gave her made her weak._

 _"Oh for the love of!" Yon Rha said before grabbing her arm and forcefully yanking her up and putting her inside the cell. She nearly cried our from pain when but held it in, only allowing a quiet whimper when she was safe inside. Yon Rha then took the chains and locked them onto the railings. "We're almost done here. Once I deliver you to Fire Lord Azulon, you'll be out of my hands. If you behave until then, I'll make sure to make your life easy and simple. Just a short ride to the Royal Palace to visit the Fire Lord and we'll never have to see each other again. Easy. Can you do that for me?" He asked that last part in a kind voice and with a smile, But Lori knew there was no kindness there. There was no kindness in his eyes. She simply nodded. "Good." he said and slammed the door closed She heard the locks engage and then he walked away._

 _"Lets get this little rat to the Fire Lord. I'm sure he'll be pleased." She heard Yon Rha say as he and the guards walked off where they were most likely riding in the nicer wagon in front of this one. She gave a sad whimper as she sat down on the floor. He called her a rat. She wasn't a rat. She was just a small girl who didn't like it here._

 _She heard the crack of the reins and the wagon started moving. Sitting on the hard wooden floor of her cell she was in no way comfortable. The wagon bumped and hopped during their journey through the Fire Nation. The bumping all around and being tossed around hurt her bottom, but she didn't bother complaining about it. She doubted anyone would hear her. Or care. She held onto the railing in hopes it would keep her steady and keep her from bouncing around. It did little help. She tried standing up but every time she tried to, the bouncing of the wagon dropped her again. She wanted to see through the small windows to see outside. She had been locked in a dark cell for four months and now she was in another cell._

 _What felt like hours later the wagon finally stopped. She heard the guards walking around and saying things and shouting things outside her cell. After a few more minutes they finally cam around and opened her cell. Yon Rha approached and unlocked her restraints from the railings in the cell. He lightly pulled on the chains tugging her slightly._

 _"Come now. We're here." He said. Without saying anymore Lori walked over to the edge of the cell and slowly but carefully she managed to climb out on her own. After she finally made it down, it was then she saw it. Her mouth fell agape at the massive castle she saw before, now in the center of a volcano was even larger in person. This place looked bigger then her entire Village. "No time for gawking." She heard Yon Rha say before nudging her forward toward the Palace._

 _They along with a party of other guards approached the massive doors where four guards in red, more ornate looking armor stood before them. After a quick conversation the royal guards stepped away and the grand doors opened wide, allowing them to enter. Lori was once again left in aw at the extravagant and beautiful interior of just the hall way to the Royal Palace. Tall pillars with decals of flames rising to the ceiling surrounded with golden dragons._ _There were more giant Fire Nation banners only now they were more ornate with gold to shine in the fire light and down the grand hall way were massive portraits of Fire Lords of the past. Lori shuddered as the passing portraits cold eyes just stared at down at her like they could burn her with a mere stare. She didn't like it she didn't like the way they stared at her._

 _They were suddenly approached by an old man in an ornate red robes and tall hat along with a couple of women behind him. The old man starred at her for a moment, with no sympathy in his eyes for her state, before turning back to her Yon Rha. "So this is the girl?" He asked._

 _"Yes this is her. Are we all set for an audience with the Fire Lord?" Yon Rha asked with much eagerness._

 _"You will have your audience with the Fire Lord within the hour. Until then, these ladies will make your capture more... presentable." He sneered at Lori. She looked down at her clothes seeing they were dirty. She probably smelled too._

 _Yon Rha handed the chains and then the key to the group of women. "Come along now." One of the women told her before they pulled her away from the group and down another hall._

 _They brought her into another room where they once again, like the pudgy woman back on the ship, brought her into a large washroom. A basin was already filled with hot water like they were ready for their arrival. After they removed her restraints, they took off her dirty clothes and started cleaning her with damp rigs which had a nice flowery scent to them. They were more gentle then the middle aged woman from the ship, but it still ached when they scrubbed her bottom. When they combed her wet hair she whined when the comb would catch tangles, and the woman would just tear through it. "Her hair is such a mess. Water Tribe." One woman voiced._

 _One woman had taken and disposed of her dirty clothes before returning with some new clean clothes. Once she was all clean they got to work on dressing her. She didn't like that she was being treated like a life like doll to these women as they moved her arms, her legs, her head so that they could dress her, but she didn't complain. She now wore a red silk dress with golden fiery trim down the line of the dress and golden dragons rising up on the front and a golden lace around her waist. The sleeves were long a lighter shade of red then her dress, reaching to her wrists with golden trim on the cuffs and along with a pair of soft black dress gloves. Her shoes were black as well, similar pointed shoes like the ones before, but these fit more comfortably, and finally they put combed her hair straight and tied it into a high ponytail with a red Fire Nation pin and locks of hair purposely hanging in front of her ears._

 _"There. Now your presentable." One of the women said before grabbing the shackles and putting them on her wrists again before taking her outside of the room. They didn't put the metal collar on, for that she was grateful._

 _The whole endeavor was a little over thirty minutes. They reunited with Yon Rha and his guard who was very pleased to see her in better condition for the Fire Lord to see. The women handed her chains back to him and then bowed before walking away._

 _"Yon Rha." The old man from before called. "The Fire Lord will see you now."_ _At the the smile on Yon Rha's face widened. He was finally going to see the Fire Lord and present him with his prize._

 _The large ornate golden doors opened wide and they all entered the throne room of the Fire Lord. This room seemed more grand then the last. Large golden Fire Nation banners hung high from the ceiling behind golden statues of dragons with fire coming from the nostrils and at the opposite end of the room was a roaring fire with the Fire Lord sitting behind it upon his thrown. He was an old man. Probably older then Gran-Gran, but yet he still terrified Lori. She didn't want to move any further but Yon Rha yanked on her chains forcing her to continue. They finally stopped before the roaring fire where Yon Rha and his guard bowed before their Fire Lord. Lori didn't understand why they bowed and when Yon Rha saw she hadn't he grew angry. He pulled on the chains and forced her to the floor._

 _"Almighty Fire Lord Azulon. We are honored to be in your presence." Yon Rha praised with raised arms. The Fire Lord seemed unpleased._

 _"You may rise Yon Rha." He said with a gesture of his hand, allowing the men to stand once again. Seeing the men stand up Lori also stood up. He may have been old but his voice still boomed through the chamber. "You had asked for an audience with me. What is it?"_

 _Yon Rha swallowed a lump in his throat and found the courage to speak. "I and my Southern Raiders have brought you, almighty Fire Lord Azulon, a great treasure from the South Pole."_

 _The Fire Lords eyebrow raised and his eyes moved over to the small girl in chains. It was then he noticed her darker skin and blue eyes. She look frightened. His gaze on her made her retreat a few steps back. Fire Lord Azluon narrowed his eyes which were now set on Yon Rha._

 _"You brought me a child!?"_

 _"Not just any child my Lord. A Water Bender. The last Water Bender of the Southern Water Tribe." He boasted._

 _Fire Lord Azulon's eyes narrowed even more at such a claim. "The Water Benders of the South Pole were wiped out." He made the argument._

 _"I have my sources Fire Lord. They have witnessed the extraordinary feats of this child. A child of this age, Water Bending."_

 _Fire Lord Azulon was slowly losing his patience with this man's obvious lies. Even his grand children had yet to develop such promise in Fire Bending. One servant brought over a pale of water placing it beside the child before stepping away. Yon Rha then removed her shackles and gestured for her to display her Water Bending. Lori was very confused and nervous about all the attention that she was now receiving. She put her hands close to her chest unsure of what she was supposed to do with the pale of water. She looked at the water and then back to Yon Rha who was ever losing his patience with her by the way he clenched his fist. She wasn't sure what he was expecting._

 _"Go ahead! Water Bend!" Yon Rha told her through clenched teeth. Lori still did nothing. She just kept staring at the pale of water and back to Yon Rha who was getting angrier by the minute. She retreated from his gaze. "I said, WATER BEND!" He shouted raising a fist._

 _"ENOUGH!" Fire Lord Azulon's voice echoed throughout the throne room and the fire roared and rose to the ceiling. Yon Rha retreated from his attack. Lori nearly ran from the Fire Lords outburst. "You have wasted enough if my time Yon Rha! And your actions in robbing this child in pursuit of glory will not go unpunished." His booming voice made Yon Rha retreat._

 _"My Lord! Please!" He pleaded. "Just wait a moment. I promise you she is a-"_

 _"And who gave you the authority to go to the Southern Water Tribe and pursue this child!?" He asked the guilty question that Yon Rha hoped he wouldn't. He was left speechless, knowing that acting without authorization showed dishonor toward anyone of higher rank. Including himself._

 _"I, well I..." Yon Rha had no words._

 _"LEAVE!" Fire Lord roared once again. The rise of the flames reflecting his anger. "You will return to the South Pole and you will stay there until my word says otherwise!"_

 _Yon Rha bowed his head in defeat and disappointment. "Yes my Lord". He said in a defeated tone and then turned to Lori in anger. He grasped her arm and went to pull her away._

 _"Leave her. She will not be returning with you." He ordered._

 _"But Fire Lord-"_

 _"I said, Leave her."_

 _The Royal Procession walked forward toward them incase they retaliated. Yon Rha let her go and was then escorted along with his guard by the Royal guard, leaving Lori alone with the Fire Lord. She turned to watch them as they were escorted out. Yon Rha turned back giving her an evil look before turning back toward his exit. Lori was now left to wonder what they were going to do with her. Whatever their plan was seemed to fail, so what were they supposed to do now. By the way the Fire Lord shooed him off, it seemed that they weren't coming back for her. Or coming back at all. She didn't want to go back with them. She was certain she wouldn't survive if she was sent back with them._

 _"Come here." Fire Lord Azulon asked her. She turned around to see his face had softened from his previous anger toward the Fire Nation men from before. She hesitated not sure what he was going to do, and she didn't want to get burned by the flames. "Come here dear." He said again and with a wave of his hand the flames parted allowing her to approach._

 _After a minute, she finally stepped forward and walked up the steps to the Fire Lords throne. She pulled her arms close to her so that the flames wouldn't burn her. After passing safely through the flames she was now face to face with the Fire Lord. His golden eyes bore down on her made her want to retreat but by the flames had returned so there was no escape. "What is your name dear?" He asked._

 _Lori took a moment to find her words. "My name Lowi."_

 _"Lowi?" Fire Lord Azulon asked. She shook her head._

 _"No. Lowi." She said again. Azulon just continued._

 _"How old are you?" he asked._

 _Lori looked down at her fingers pointing at each as she quietly counted to her age. 'One, two, three, four', she raised her four fingers on her right hand. "Fo."_

 _Fire Lord Azulon sighed. By her small stature, he figured she was around that age. She was only four, and Yon Rha stole her form her home. Even if she was a Water Bender she could do no harm to anyone. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, annoyed that Yon Rha went ahead and stole this child from her home. He wasn't oblivious to the terror she was feeling. He could see it in her eyes and the way she was quacking in her spot. He raised his hand calling over one of his sages and whispered something in his ear. Two more men in similar robes approached them and gestured for Lori to follow them._

 _"These men will take you to a guest room where you will wait. I must speak to must son." Azulon said._

 _After a moment looking between him and the two men, Lori finally followed them out of the throne room through another side door. As they walked through a different section of the palace she didn't spot Yon Rha or his guard anywhere in the palace. She hoped they were gone for good. She didn't want to see them again. After walking through another door she realized they were now outside passing through a garden. She stopped in her tracks and stared in aw seeing the beautiful red and pink flowers on their bushes. The fountain spewing water sitting beside a pond which glistened in the sunlight, surrounded by more bushes of brightly colored flowers, flowers she had never seen before. On the opposite side from where they stood she saw a boy, maybe a little older then her, walking along with a woman, perhaps his mother. He was smiling. She wondered why he was happy, maybe he lived here. He was lucky to be able to come to a garden like this all the time. She wanted to stay there and take in the magnificent sight before her but one of the men gently touched her shoulder pulling her out of her reverie. She gave a whimper and continued. The boy only noticed them just as they disappeared through another door._

 _They finally arrived in another large room where she was told to wait. They allowed her to sit on the futon if she so wished to do so and the walked out. Tired of standing and walking all day she decided to take a seat on the aforementioned futon. The cushion was very cozy, a lot more comfortable then when she was in that cell. In fact it was much more comfortable then anything she had ever sat on before. She decided to lie down on and she was so overcome by the comfiness of it that she wanted to sleep on it. Fifteen minutes later she sat back up when she saw the door open and in came a woman. She carried a small plate with a piece of red cloth over it. She looked at her and smiled warmly. Something that was very out of place for anyone here in the Fire Nation._

 _"Hello dear." She walked closer until she was right in front of Lori and she kneeled down. "Would you like a light snack?" She asked kindly_ and removed the red cloth to reveal a Moon Peach.

 _Lori stared at her and then looked to the platter of fruit and then back at her. She wondered if this was a trick. She slowly reached for the fruit and began to bite down. Nothing happened, only that the woman's smile grew. She waited till Lori finished eating her fruits. Lori was about to finish when she remembered one again. She gestured the fruit in her hand toward the woman. "Shae?"_

 _The woman gave a laugh at the young girls offer. "No thank you. I'm fine._

 _Lori didn't heed. She just gave the fruit a little shake. "Shae?"_

 _After a second the young woman took the piece of fruit tore a small piece off and returned the greater portion to the small girl before eating the smaller piece. She gave a laugh. "Thank you very much. Your very sweet." She said making_ Lori smile.

 _Lori finished her Moon Peach in just a couple more bites. She had a little bit of the fruits juice still on her face, but Mei Lien was quick to wipe it with the red cloth. Lori's sudden surprise made the woman laugh._

 _"Whats your name dear?" She asked._

 _"My name Lowi." She answered._

 _"Um, Lowi?"_

 _"No. Lowi." Lori was always annoyed thay they got her name confused. It wasn't her fault she couldn't pronouce her "r's". After a second the woman guessed her speach just wasn't as developed._

 _"Your name is, Lori?"_

 _Lori nodded. "Yeah." She said. The woman smiled._

 _"Thats a very pretty name. My name is Mei Lein."_

 _"Mei Lein?" Lori asked. Mei Lein nodded. "That also pwetty name."_

 _Mei Lein laughed once more. Lori found that Mei Lein was a very nice lady. "Thank you very much. How old are you?"_

 _Lori raised four fingers. "Fo."_

 _"Four! Wow your such a big girl aren't you." Mei Lein joked making Lori giggle. A cute little giggle._

 _"How old you?" She asked. Mei Lein simply smiled._

 _"I'll be thirty-two this year." She answered leaving Lori in surprise._ _That was around the same age as her father and yet she looked almost as old as her mother who was much younger. Much much younger. She looked to her right hand counting on her fingers quickly realizing that thirty two was more then five._

 _"That mo den dis?" She asked raising five fingers._

 _"Yes." Mei Lein answered smiling._

 _"You no look that old." She said. Mei Lein just laughed by the bluntness of the child's words._

 _"Thank you very much."_

 _They spent the next ten minutes talking with one another about all sorts of things. Mei Lein told her had been serving in the Royal Palace for the past fifteen. Lori told her of her family back in the South Pole and her love for the Otter Penguins. When Mei Lein asked about the Otter Penguins, Lori simply described them, 'the greatest animal in the world' with raised hands. Her excitement brought joy Mei Lein. When Lori claimed that she was probably part penguin and began to imitating her favorite creatures by waddling around, clapping her hands and mimicking their caws. The silly child made Mei Lein laugh aloud. She said that she would very much like to see a penguin someday. Being with Mei Lein really made Lori feel better. She looked out the window to see it was turning late evening. She stood from her spot leaving Lori in question._

 _"It looks about time." She says before looking back at Lori. "Would you like to follow me?"_

 _Not wanting to leave her only friend here she nods and hops off the futon and follows her out the door. They walk for a couple minutes down the hall, Mei Lein is walking close to her so Lori is afraid. She's knows this girls nervous and wants to do her best to ease her nerves. Lori feels her tummy grumble a little. She's still hungry. She only had the one peach this morning and the one from ten minutes ago. She gently tugs on Mei Lein's robes until she has her attention. She asks in a quiet voice, hoping that she isn't crossing some sort of boundary._

 _"Can I have mo peach?" She asks and rubs her tummy. "Hungy." She explains._

 _Mei Lein gives her a soft smile. "Well if I give you more, it'll spoil dinner." She says which makes Lori's widen._

 _"Dinny?" She asks.  
_

 _"Yes. Dinner. Thats where we're going now." She replies just as they reach a door. She opens and gestures for Lori to enter._

 _They walk into a large room similar to the previous room. In the middle there is a big table with all sorts of steaming plates and platters with different types of food, some foods that Lori had never seen before. The delicious smells coming from each table made her mouth water with anticipation. Seeing her face, her eyes wide and mouth agape made Mei Lein giggle. She gently patted her back and gestured her to take a seat. Mei Lein sat down right beside her._ _Lori did so and waited for the moment she was aloud to eat. She didn't want to so something that was considered rude. She didn't want to make her new friend upset with her, but still she was really hungry. Just as she was about ask when they could eat, another door opened and entered a man with a steaming pot. He was a portly old man who wore armor over a set of robes. He was military, Lori knew and yet, he carried a smile. Mei Lein stood from her seat and gave a bow._

 _"General." She welcomed. Lori looked to her and then to the old man. The older man returned the bow._

 _"Mei Lein. I hope I did not keep you waiting." He said._

 _"Not at all. But this little one here said she was really hungry." She replied. The man then looked at her but held no malice in his eyes. She instead saw much kindness._

 _"Is that so. Well then, I'm sorry I kept you waiting." He said as he took a seat, placing the pot on the table. He took the pot and poured a sweet smelling liquid into a small porcelain cup. "Would you like some Jasmine Tea?"_

 _Lori raised her eyebrow in question. She had never had Jasmine tea before. "Tea?"_

 _"Jasmine, yes. I made it myself." He said before handing the steaming cup over to her spot._

 _Lori stared at the steaming drink now in front of her. It smelled really sweet. She picked up the hot cup ready to drink but Mei Lein stopped her. "Oh no no no. Its really hot. You a have to blow on it first." She said and gently blew into the drink._

 _Lori felt the difference in the temperature. She gently blew on it as well, now that it was safe she took a sip. Her eyes widened at the taste it was really sweet and really good. She drank the entire cup as fast as possible, making Mei Lein and Iroh laugh. She finished the drink placing the cup back on the table. Mei Lein began to take pieces of food from the many plates surrounding them and started placing them on Lori's plate, asking her what she wanted and how much. There was so much to choose from Lori couldn't possibly decide._

 _"So dear, what is your name?" The General asked kindly._

 _"My name Lowi." She answered._

 _"Lori. That is a very lovely name." He said. Lori was happy. Finally. Someone who got their name right. "My name is General Iroh. Or just Iroh."_

 _Lori took a moment to play the name in her head over and over again. This man had been really nice to her, it was only fair she be nice back. "Iwoh. Iwoh." She tried to pronounce it correctly but she couldn't. She felt embarrassed and disappointed with herself. "Iwoh. Iwoh!" She lowered her head saddened._

 _"If you would like, you may call me Uncle." He offered._

 _"Uncle? Uncle." She thought it over in her head. It had a nice ring to it. She smiled "I like Uncle."_

 _Iroh smiled and offered more tea. "Would you like some more tea dear?" He asked._

 _"Yes please. It weally good Uncle." She said pleasantly as she was poured more tea. This time she blew on the tea all by herself before drinking it._

* * *

 **A/N: Thats the first chapter of Lori's time in the Fire Nation I will be stopping the main story periodically to do this to give a little insight on the character, her struggle and her relationships with the people around her.**

 **Along with these chapters I would also like to answer any questions y'all may want to ask about almost anything wether its about the story, past or future stories, or just about me, as sort of like a Q &A.**

 **If ya'll have any questions you would like answered just P.M. me with the Subject titled "Honor Bound: Question" and I'll try to do a few a time. Don't leave questions in the reviews and no troll questions.**

 **Thanks for reading.**


	12. I still Remember: New Friends

**Jesus Christ!**

 **I have honestly have no idea where the time went. I know before I had talked about, work, life, lack of sleep, or over-sleeping for not having time to write, but this was just ridiculous. I honestly can't believe I waited this long to finish this chapter. The only other excuse I have is that my mind has been coming up with ideas for new stories, as well as coming up with ideas to add to a story I had previously planned and plan on writing once this is down.**

 **I have most recently begun thinking about little things for another Avatar story that I had planned on writing. Funny enough I had conceived that story long before I thought about this one.**

 **I have a problem where I have a hard time concentrating on one project because my brain then comes up with more, and I think it sounds like a good idea and I start writing them down so I don't lose the idea and that tears me away from this story. I'm dead serious when I say I have planned out a bunch of different stories for the following:**

 **Avatar: 5 (Excluding this story, of course)**

 **Legend of Korra: 4**

 **Red vs Blue: 4**

 **Watchmen: 4 (5 because I also plan on doing a Watchmen/DC Universe cross over story)**

 **Voltron: 3**

 **RWBY: 3**

 **I would love to be able to put out multiple stories out at a time but its just too difficult to do so, because I know that if I focus on one, then it will have more attention and be better then if my focus is on multiple stories and it would be overwhelming for me. I've tried it before, and I ended up solely focusing on one and finishing it before I even continued on the other, and that took me almost a year to get back to the second one. I've tried explaining this to my friend but he just doesn't understand. He's not a writer. He says he is, but lets be honest writing for Role-Playing (and I don't mean D &D) and actually _writing_ , creating a story, typing it on word and then putting it out there for people to read and criticize and within a reasonable schedule, you know, ACTUAL writing is completely different.**

 **All these ideas planned out and not enough time or energy to do them not. Only that I also have a back catalogue of other projects, Books, Movies, and videos that not only I want to do but NEED to do, and I just don't have the time to do them which really sucks because I love writing and I want to finish them and put them out there for people to enjoy them, and I also hope to one day write for a living.**

 **Anyways I'm sorry for all of this and I'm grateful for all ya'll who are still enjoying this story, and am glad for the support and the comments you give. I really hope this will continue to entertain you as the story unfolds and hope to see this end complete and as close as to my original goal.**

* * *

 _Lori didn't feel well. After dinner Mei Lein escorted Lori back to the previous room where they first met. It was then Lori began to feel something upsetting her stomach. She felt sick. She lightly tugged on Mei Lein's robes to grab the woman's attention._

 _"Yes Lori?" Mei Lein asked._

 _"I feel funny." She said sadly. She felt her stomach rumbling in a bad way. Mei Lein helped her so she was sitting on the futon._

 _"Oh, is that so?" She asked. Lori nodded._

 _Mei Lein began to check on her. She gently touched her cheeks and forehead in a kind and caring gesture that Lori liked. Just like her mother and Gran-Gran would do. Lori seemed fine, but her face was flushed, most likely as a result from not feeling well. She didn't have a fever so she was probably just feeling queasy from dinner. She had never seen a child eat so much so quickly. Mei Lein put on a soft smile._

 _"I think its just a tummy ache." She suggested. Lori nodded._

 _"My tummy feel funny." She confirmed._

 _"Wait right here. I'll be right back." Mei Lein stood up walked out of the room, leaving Lori alone._

 _For the first time Lori wasn't afraid of being alone. Mei Lein said she would be back and she believed her. Lori very much liked Mei Lein. She was very nice to her, unlike most of the people from the Fire Nation. She was kind and warm to her just like her mother and Gran-Gran were. She wondered if Mei Lein had any kids. Maybe they were nice like her. Maybe some day they could play and be friends. She would very much like to have a friends. Although right now her mind was on her upset stomach which she felt was ready to burst. She shouldn't have eaten so much but she was just so hungry and the food was really good._

 _After a what felt like ten minutes of waiting she began to feel antsy. Mei Lein hadn't returned. She said she would be right back but she had yet to return. Lori was beginning to feel worried. Did something happen to her? Did the Fire Lord move her somewhere else? Were those Fire Nation soldiers who brought her here in the first place coming back? She was getting real nervous and her upset stomach wasn't helping. She whimpered to herself. She didn't like being here alone. She wanted Mei Lein to come back. She wanted to see Su again. She wanted to go home and see her family again. She wanted to see Katara again._

 _Finally the door opened again and entered Mei Lein along with General Iroh who was holding a steaming pot. Seeing Mei Lein again brought great relief to her and seeing Iroh also brought a warm feeling. Although she was happy to see him, she still didn't know why he was here. Shouldn't he being doing other General-ly stuff?_

 _"Uncle?" She questioned._

 _"Hello again Lori." He said in that kind voice of his. "Mei Lein tells me that you are not feeling well."_

 _Lori nodded rubbing her belly. "My tummy feel funny." She repeated what she said to Mei Lein._

 _Mei Lein kneeled beside the little girl. "I think she just has an upset stomach from eating so much."_

 _Iroh approached them and placed the pot and a small porcelain cup on the nearby knee high table. "Yes that's understandable. I have never seen a little girl eat so much in one sitting." Iroh laughed. Lori just bowed her head in shame._

 _"I sowwy. I weally hungwy." She explained._

 _Mei Lein gently rubbed her back and gave a soft giggle. "Its okay Lori."_

 _Iroh took the tea pot and poured it into the small cup before handling it over to Lori. She took the cup with question. She wasn't sure she could drink anything else. She gave a little smell. She didn't like that it smelled strange. Not like the tea she drank during dinner._

 _"It smell funny." She said._

 _"Thats because its not normal tea. It's made with special herbs." Iroh explained._

 _With a simple enough explanation. Lori gently blew into the steaming cup, as she was told to cool it down, and then took a drink. She cringed from the very bitter taste. She swallowed hard before handing it back to Iroh._

 _"It taste funny. I no like it." She whined. It was nothing like the tea she drank during dinner. That tea was really good. This tea wasn't._

 _"I know it doesn't taste good Lori, but I promise you it will make you feel better." Iroh said with a warm smile._

 _Lori was hesitant. She didn't like the way it tasted, but she did believe the older man. She looked to Mei Lein beside her who also agreed with the General._

 _"Don't worry Lori. This tea will make your tummy less funny." Mei Lein explained._

 _Lori looked back to the cup in her hands. She didn't like the taste, but both Mei Lein and Iroh told her it would make her feel better and she was inclined to believe them. She slowly drank the cup until it she finished her tea and handed it back to Iroh._

 _"Thank you Uncle." She said, believing her torment was over. She was mistaken as she saw Iroh pour her one more cup._

 _"Just one more cup of tea." Iroh said. "And I promise you will feel better."_

 _Lori whined again. She really didn't want to drink anymore of this bitter tasting tea but she took it either way. She once again blew on it and then slowly drank the tea. She it seemed worse a second time but she still finished it despite her discomfort. Once she swallowed the last of the tea she handed the it back to Iroh._

 _"There you go. Don't worry, you'll feel better pretty soon." Mei Lein said._

 _Lori nodded, believing her. She gave a yawn indicating that she was tired. Looking out the window it was already dark and was approaching bedtime for the little one. Looking back at Lori she was rubbing her eyes._

 _"Are you tired?" Mei Lein asked. Lori nodded. "Would you like to go to bed?" Lori nodded again._

 _Looking over to Iroh both adults stood up. Iroh made his way toward the door, while Mei Lein helped Lori off the futon. She gestured Lori to hold her hand so they could walk together. She took it without question and together they followed Iroh out of the room. As they walked down the hallway toward some unknown, Lori felt the unsettledness in her stomach lighten. The tea did its job and she was happy Iroh and Mei Lein were right. After walking up a flight of stairs and turning into another dimly lit hallway, they finally came across a strong wooden door. Despite its sturdy design, Iroh seemed to open it without a problem and they all walked inside. The room was dark bit with the flick of Iroh's wrist the scones on the walls lit up the room. It was a bedroom. A child's bedroom_

 _Lori looked around the room, there was a large square rice paper window on the opposite wall which led to outside and up against a wall to their left was a dark wooden dresser with golden decals on it. The walls were made of a dark brown wood with golden trim to make fire, but there were many tapestries of flowers and dragons along with one or two banners of the Fire Nation to keep from making the walls looking dull. And in the middle of the room was a large bed with light red bed sheets and a stuffed horned animal of sorts, similar to the large horned animal she saw Fire Nation soldiers riding around when she first arrived, and at the foot of the bed was a wooden chest. After looking around she turned back to Mei Lein and Iroh who had smiles on there faces._

 _"Who woom is this?" She asked._

 _Iroh simply laughed. "This will be your room." he answered which brought a great surprise to her._

 _"My woom?" She repeated which was answered with a nod. She looked back at her new room. "It big woom." She said happily but was simmered by another yawn and she rubbed her eyes._

 _Iroh laughed at the little girls excitement. "Well perhaps its time for bed." He said before preparing to walk out. Before he did Lori ran up to him and hugged him._

 _"Thank you Uncle."_

 _Iroh smiled and hugged her back. "Your very welcome dear." He said before gently turning her around and giving her a gentle shove. "Now off to bed."_

 _Lori nodded and walked toward the bed as Iroh walked, out saying something quietly to Mei Lein before exiting the room and closing the door behind him._

 _Lori looked up wanting to climb onto the bed but she suddenly felt tired to even try. She yawned and rubbed at her eyes wanting to stay awake a little longer so she could change out of these clothes and climb into her new bed. She heard a giggle behind her and saw the Mei Lein was still with her._

 _"Looks like someones ready for bed." She said. Lori simply nodded._

 _Mei Lein removed her red pin from her hair allowing it to flow freely. She continues to undress her and then redress her in a pink sleeping gown. Lori sat down on the bed while Mei Lein began to comb her hair. They sat there quietly together with Mei Lein gently combing her hair while Lori was playing with the stuffed animal on the bed. She stared at the mysterious animal in her hands. She's never seen an animal like this before. She looks over to Mei Lein who is still combing her hair._

 _"What dis?" She asks._

 _Mei Lein looks to the stuffed animal in the child hands. She smiles. "Thats a Komodo Rhino."_

 _Lori looks from her to the toy in her hand. "Ko-mo-do Whino." She tries to say. She rolled around the name in her head and continued starring at the animal in her hands. "Komodo Whino." She smiled at the name and began to giggle._

 _Mei Lein smiled and continued with combing her hair. She had never seen hair like like Lori's. For being Water Tribe, a supposedly inferior race, she had really nice and well kept hair. "You have very pretty hair Lori."_

 _Lori turned to her and smiled. "Thank you. My sistew have pwetty hay too."_

 _"You have a sister?"_

 _Lori nodded. "Yeah. My big sistew Katawa."_

 _"Katara?" Mei Lein asked._

 _"Mm hmm" Lori said but then lowered her head._

 _Mei Lein stopped her combing and looked over to see the saddened expression on Lori's face. "Whats wrong Lori?"_

 _Lori was quiet starring at the floor with a sad look on her face. "I miss Katawa." She said sadly._

 _"You miss your big sister?" Mei Lein asked and Lori nodded._

 _Lori made a sniffle and Mei Lein gently put her hands on her shoulders and gave her a soft kiss on the top of her head. "I'm sure she misses you too. I miss my big sister too."_

 _Lori turned around to face her. "You have sistew too?" She asked._

 _"I used to. She died many years ago when we were younger." Mei Lein said with a sad expression on her face._

 _Lori's expression changed to shocked. Lori didn't know she had a sister and she was doubly surprised hearing that she had died. She didn't know what she would do if Katara had died too. Mei Lein continued her story._

 _"She was my best friend. We did everything together. But then she got sick and wouldn't get better. I was twelve when she died and she was fifteen."_

 _Mei Lein didn't realize that she had tears rolling down her face. She was then caught off guard when Lori turned around and hugged her. She hugged, wrapping her short arms around her her body wanting to hug her tightly._

 _"I sowwy." Lori apologized._

 _Mei Lein smiled and whipped the tears out of her face. "It's okay dear." She said and Lori finally pulled away._

 _Mei Lein grabbed the stuffed Komodo Rhino and held in her hands. "We used to have a pet rhino just like this. We name him Wu" Lori was surprised by this. These animals were huge, how could she have one as a pet?_

 _"It was a baby when we got it. But it grew as we did. And everyday we would go out to the field and play with Wu. And we always did this thing. It was silly really." She said and touched the toys cotton horn. "Every night we would rub his horn and kiss it. It was our way of wishing the animal good night, and it would keep the bad spirits away from giving us bad dreams."_

 _Lori looked to her and then back to the stuffed animal as Mei Lein handed it back to her. Lori looked at it for a while before doing the same ritual. She rubbed the animals horn and gave it a kiss. She looked to Mei Lein who was now giggling._

 _"I do good?"_

 _"Yes Lori. You did good." They both smiled._

 _Mei Lein continued to comb Lori's hair, smiling at the little girls own_ enjoyment. "waw. waw waw." _Lori began to maneuver the toy pretending that the animal was walking around and began to make short childish 'roars' as though mimicking the animals sounds. Mei Lein giggled. She stopped and put the comb down and put her hands over Lori's._

 _"No Lori. Its more_ _like..._ mmuurrrrr." _She explains and then makes a more accurate version of the Komodo Rhino's low and long guttural sound. Lori was very amused by Mei Lein's display._

mmuuu _." Lori tried to do the same._

"mmuurrrr"

"mmuuu"

"mmuurrrr."

 _Lori giggled as they both made the animals sounds. She lifted the animal and put it in Mei Lein's face._ "MMUUU. _" She shouted as though the animal was roaring._

 _Mei Lein laughed as Lori played with her toy and pretended to be under attacked. "Oh no. Help. It's attacking me." Mei Lein cried out laughing before grabbing the toy and retaliating against Lori. "_ MMUURRRR"

 _Lori laughed and pretended to scream in terror, lying back in the bed as the animal pretended to attack her. They both just laughed at their enjoyment, but it was coming to end an end soon._

 _"Okay thats enough playing. Time for bed." Mei Lein said._

 _Mei Lein grabbed the sheets of the bed and proceeded to tuck Lori in. She made doubly sure that she was comfortable, tucking her in accordingly and putting the stuffed Komodo Rhino in her arms so she would have a friend on her first night. She knew from experience how strange it was sleeping in a new area for the first time. She hopped that she would have a easier time adjusting. At least she would be here too to help her._

 _"There we go. Good night Lori." She whispered and watched Lori close her eyes as she snuggled into her bed with the stuffed animal in her arms. She watched her starring fondly at the little girl_.

 _Before she could do anymore, she heard the door behind her open and entered the old General._

 _"Evening General Iroh."_

 _"Evening Mei Lein." Iroh said with a smile._

 _"Uncle?" The two adults both turned to the little girl who was now rubbing her eyes._

 _Iroh smiled and walked to her bedside. "Hello Lori. Are you doing well?"_

 _Lori nodded as she tried to to fight off sleepiness. A battle she was losing. There was one more thing that just had to be done before bedtime. It was crucial for getting a good nights sleep._

 _"Uncle? Can you wead me stowy?" She asked._

 _Iroh smiled warmly and gave aa laugh._

 _"Of course dear. But I seem to have forgotten to put story books in your new room."_

 _He explained looking over at the empty book case. In his rush in getting the room prepared he had forgotten to add story books and more toys for Lori._

 _"However there is one story that I remember that my mother told me when I was your age." He said._

 _Lori despite her sleepiness, fought off the urge to sleep so that she could listen to his story._

 _As Iroh told the story, Mei Lein quietly watched as Lori was enthralled by the tale of spirits and magic. She slowly and quietly exited the room leaving Iroh and Lori to their imagination.  
_

* * *

 _Lori didn't hear the rest of the story. Half way through Iroh's story she had fallen asleep completely. She was really tired and the bed was so soft she couldn't resist succumbing to sleep. After many months on sleeping uncomfortably on a dirty mat in a dark cell of a Fire Nation ship, she was happy sleeping in a bed of any kind, and with no interruptions, or noisy ship sounds to keep her awake, she had gotten the best sleep in a long time._

 _Mei Lein had realized that fact and had decided ti let her sleep as much as possible. She didn't know what it was like to be torn away from ones home and stuck in a cell for who knows how long, and so decided to let the little girl sleep in for a reasonable time. That and the fact that Lori looked so peaceful while sleeping that she didn't want to bother her. In the mean time she had continued to with her other duties of cleaning and preparing other rooms and helping the other staff prepare the dinning room for breakfast. It was while she was delivering towels to the kitchen that she had ran into General Iroh._

 _"Good morning Mei Lein." Iroh said._

 _"Good morning General Iroh." She said back with a bow._

 _"How is Lori doing this morning?"_

 _"She is still sleeping sir." She answered which brought question to the elder man._

 _"Is that so? I would have thought she would be awake by now." He thought. Even though he was well aware that the Water Tribe didn't wake as early as Fire Benders did, he had assumed she would at least be wake by now._

 _"I decided to let her sleep in a little more. Given what her situation was before arriving here." Iroh nodded in understanding. "I just thought the little girl could use some more peace of mind."_

 _"I understand. But perhaps now would be a good time to wake her, so that she may have some breakfast."_

 _"Of course General."_

 _"And my son will be arriving very soon. I would very much like for them to meet."_

 _Mei Lein's face brightened into a smile. "Of course. I've nearly forgotten Lu Ten was returning today."_

 _With that Mei Lein left to finish her delivery before heading to Lori's room._ _It was maybe two hours before noon that she finally arrived to wake up the sleeping child. She carefully opened the door and peered inside, seeing the little girl curled up in bed with her thumb in her mouth and her other arm around the stuffed animal. Her face was scrunched up and she was shaking as though she were having a bad dream. Seeing her like worried Mei Lein. After quietly walking in and closing the door behind her, she walked up to the bed and gently put her hands on the girl._

 _"lori." She whispered. "lori dear."_

 _Lori gave a quiet whimper and curled up tighter. Mei Lein didn't like this. She was worried for the little girl. When she tried to touch her she would curl up even more, like she was afraid of being hurt._

 _"Lori dear wake up."_ _Mei Lein said a little louder and this time gave Lori's shoulder a little shake._

 _Lori's eyes open wide and she began pulling herself away from Mei Lein believing her to be someone else. She was breathing heavily and looking around the room, searching for the soldiers who had taken her who have now come to hurt her. Mei Lein was taken aback from her shock. She nearly reeled back from Lori's suddenness. She barely had time to realize what was going on. When Lori couldn't find her attacker she shut her eyes and curled up into a ball and began to shake from fear._

 _"Lori its me." Mei Lein tried saying softly. At the sound of soft voice Lori's shaking had calmed. She opened her eyes and looked up to see the kind woman from the day before. She looked around the room once again, finally realizing she was in her new bedroom and not the ships dark cell._

 _"Lori its okay. No one is going to hurt you." Mei Lein tried again finally reaching the little girl. "It's okay. Your safe here."_

 _Lori finally looked up to Mei Lein who was looking at her with worried eyes. "Mei Lein?" She asked._

 _Mei Lein finally smiled. "Yes dear. Its only me."_

 _"No bad man?"_

 _"No bad man." She answered. It was just a dream. She wasn't in that cold cell anymore. She was safe and sound here in this room with her very nice lady friend. She just hoped her new uncle Iroh was nearby as well._

 _"Did you have a scary dream?" Mei Lein asked softly. She nodded_

 _"Scawy dweam." She said sounding like she was on the verge of crying._

 _Mei Lein wrapped her arms around her and hugged her gently. "Its okay dear. Your safe here. There is no bad man here." She said softly._

 _It was then that Mei Lein realized that there was a dark spot on Lori's blanket. She touched the dark spot and gasped. It was warm and damp. Her reaction frightened Lori who began to curl up again. She had wet herself again and the last time this happened she lost her pinky finger. She hugged her stuffed Komodo Rhino, fearing that her new friend was going to turn on her for her indecency._

 _"Oh no dear." Mei Lein said and she walked to a drawer where she grabbed a towel. She returned placing the unfolded towel on the edge of the bed away from the wet spot. She lifted the still frightened Lori and sat her on the towel folding the the sides over her lap to keep her warm._

 _"Don't worry dear. Accidents happen." Mei Lein said with a kind smile._

 _Mei Lein walked off toward another door. This room was also chosen for her because of the private bathroom right next door. Mei Lein entered the neighboring bathroom and turned the faucet of the bathtub to run warm water and applied a pink powder to it. Once the bathtub was filled with warm water she returned to Lori who was still sitting on the bed waiting for her._

 _"Are you ready?" She asked. Lori nodded her head._

 _Mei Lein lifted up Lori, with towel wrapped around her waist, and carried her to the bathroom. Once she put her on the floor she made to remove Lori's clothes but she reeled back. Mei Lein was confused by the this as Lori shook her head. "Lori whats the matter?"_

 _She just shook her head again. "Lori dear please. Tell me whats wrong?"_

 _"They hoot me." She said in a broken voice. She raised her left hand showing her missing pinky finger. Mei Lein was absolutely horrified._

 _"Who did this to you!" She raised her voice which frightened Lori even more, making her step back. Mei Lein apologized for her abrasiveness. "I'm sorry Lori. Please tell me who did this."_

 _"Bad man. Bad man who took me away." She answered. "They hoot me. You hoot me."_

 _Mei Lein felt her heart grow heavy from that. She got to her knees so that she could get closer to the small child. "Lori please come here dear."_

 _Hesitantly, Lori took small steps forward until she was closer to Mei Lein. Mei Lein gently took her hands and gave each one a kiss._ _"I promise I will never ever hurt you." She said softly._

 _Lori thought about this for a moment. Mei Lein had been nice to her since the beginning. She wasn't like those bad men on the ship._ _"Pwomise?" She asked._

 _Mei Lein smiled and drew an 'X' over her chest. "Cross my heart."_

 _Lori was fascinated by that display. She had never seen it before. She did the same motion, drawing an X over her chest, looking down to see if she did it right. "Cwoss. Hat?"_

 _Mei Lien giggled. "Yes cross heart." Lori smiled once again and Mei Lein brought her into another hug. "Now lets get you cleaned up so we can make can get you breakfast."_

 _Lori perked up at this. "Bweakfast." She cheered raising her arms in the air. Mei Lein smiled._

 _Mei Lein undressed the girl and helped her into the tub. The water was now slightly pink and bubbly with a nice fragrance smell coming from it. The water was very warm. This was a very much different experience then from back home where the water was always cold. Lori liked it a lot. Mei Lein spent the next twenty minutes cleaning Lori and letting her enjoy the warm. Mei Lein was very gentle when it came to cleaning her and took her time so that Lori was comfortable. It reminded Lori very much of her mother and Gran-Gran. They were very gentle when it came to bath time She also liked seeing Lori's enjoyment playing in her bubble bath. Whenever a large bubble would began to build she would clap her hands on it and it would disappear. She giggled at this. At one point while Mei Lein was shampooing her hair, Lori took in a deep breath and stuck her head below the water. After a few seconds Lori's jumped up splashing water everywhere._

 _"Boo!" She cried out and began laughing._

 _Despite now being covered in soapy water Mei Lein laughed as well. Once Lori was considered clean she drained the tub of the pink fragrant water and began refilling it with regular warm water much to Lori's disappointment who was now just slapping the remaining bubbles on the tub floor. With the running water and a sponge Mei Lein cleaned off the remaining soapy residue from Lori's skin and was now finally clean. She dried her off with a towel and dressed her for the day._

 _"There we go. Clean and pretty." Mei Lein said and stood back up offering her hand. Lori took it and together they walked out of the room and toward the dining room._

* * *

 _Upon arriving in the dining room there was Iroh in good spirits with a cup of tea in his hand. Lori immediately smiled at seeing the kind man. "Ello Uncle Iwoh." She said but then fell silent at the other person in the room._

 _Opposite of him was a another man younger then both he and Mei Lein also with a cup of tea in his hand. The two appeared to be having a good conversation with laughs and smiles. Lori had not met this man yet and wasn't sure if he was nice or mean. She decided to hide behind Mei Lein until she was sure of him. However her plan of hiding was foiled when the man looked over and stood up, walking over to them._

 _"Mei Lein. It's so good to see you again." The man said as he gave a slight bow._

 _Mei Lein returned a deeper bow. "It's good to see you too Lu Ten. My how you've grown. What has it been, two months since you left?" She said ruffling his hair some. Lu Ten laughed at this._

 _"Something like that." He answered fixing his hair. His eyes then went to the child hiding behind the woman. "And who is this mysterious girl?"_

 _Lori hid behind Mei Lein even more. She didn't like being noticed. It was then Iroh stood up and walked over to them standing beside Lori. "This is Lori. She is from the Southern Water Tribe and my new charge." Lori looked up at him not sure what those words meant. She felt Iroh's warm hand on her back which brought some comfort to her. Mei Lein stepped out of the way so that Lori would no longer be hiding behind her so that she could be more face to face with the young man._

 _"Lori this is my son Lu Ten." Iroh said._

 _Lu Ten bent down so that she could get eye to eye with her. She was very nervous, Lu Ten could tell, he just hoped that it was because of him. "Hi there Lori. It's nice to meet you." He said and outstretched his hand for a shake._

 _Lori stared at the his hand for a second and then looked back at him again. He had a smile, maybe he as nice like Iroh was. She cautiously took the gestured, grabbing one of his fingers and shaking it hopping that was enough._

 _"Ello." She said softly and then slowly retreated beside Iroh._

 _"She is just shy." Iroh said to his son. "Don't worry she'll open up to you. Now, are you hungry."_

 _"You bet I am." Lu Ten said. Both eyes returned to Lori who was clutching onto Iroh's sash._

 _"Lori are you hungry?" He asked. She nodded. "Excellent. Lets have some breakfast."_

 _The three walked over to the short table and took their seats. Lori noticed that Mei Lein had left them alone. When she asked her elder, he simply told her she had gone to clean up Lori's bedroom. Mei Lein hadn't left her alone before and felt saddened by her absence. Breakfast was nice. Iroh served her portions of whatever she pointed at, but she made sure to eat less and much slowly this time. She didn't want a repeat of what happened after dinner the night before. The two men with her began talking about Lu Ten's journey away from the Fire Nation. Mei Lein said that he had been gone for two months she why but didn't feel like asking. She didn't really say anything, she just sat there an listened to the two men with her._

 _"You ought to see the new Pohuai Stronghold, it's incredible." Lu Ten said with much amazement._

 _"Well it seems as though I'll have to do so someday." Iroh said with a laugh._

 _The two men spoke in high spirits which she was happy for her elder. Lu Ten seemed to be happy as well. It was about this time Lori had finished her breakfast. It was really good and she would liked to have eaten more but she didn't want to get sick again. She gently pushed her plate away and spoke to her elder. Similarly, Iroh and Lu Ten had finished as well._

 _"Uncle, I done." She said._

 _"Was it good?." He asked. She nodded._

 _She said to him and both Iroh and Lu Ten stood up. "It seems like we've all had a fine breakfast."_

 _A couple of servants entered the dining room and worked on clearing the table of the plates, cups, and leftover food. Lori followed the two adults out of the dining room while they continued talking. She felt like she was being ignored but very quickly their attention was on her._

 _"I am sorry to say this Lori, but I have meetings to attend to." Iroh said which saddened her very much. He gave a gentle pad on he back as a sign of comfort. "But now that Lu Ten is here, you won't be alone. Is that alright?" He said with a smile._

 _Lori turned to Lu Ten who held a warm smile on his face. She didn't want Iroh to leave her, but she was at least happy that she wouldn't be alone for the day. Lu Ten seemed nice and Mei Lein and Iroh liked him so maybe he was a good person. She nodded to Iroh who returned the gesture with a smile._

 _"Alright then. I'll se you both later." Iroh said. Lori walked over and hugged him._

 _"Bye Uncle." She said._

 _He hugged her back. "Good bye Lori. Have a good day."_

 _She watched him walk down the hall leaving Lori and Lu Ten to watch him disappear around the corner. After he was completely gone Lori turned to the man beside her. He looked down at her still smiling. He bent down so he was closer to her._

 _"So what would you like to do Lori?" Lu Ten asked._

 _"Play." She simply said._

 _Lu Ten chuckled. "Alright, follow me. I know where we can go."_

 _The two walked together making idle chatter during the journey. He had learned that she had arrived at the Royal Palace the day before and had asked her how her stay had been. Without mentioning her accident in the morning when Mei Lein woke her up she said it was fine. She talked about how she liked Mei Lein and Iroh and how they were really nice. Lu Ten said that Mei Lein had taken care of him since he was a child and that she was in good hands. Lori was happy for that. She really liked Mei Lein and considered her a good friend to her._

 _As they were walking they made it outside, only they were on a third floor balcony. She got nervous from seeing how high up they were. The sound of a child's laughter ringed in Lori's ears and she immediately looked over the railing to see who it was from. Down below she saw the garden again and it was still as beautiful as ever. By the pond sat a boy with his mother tossing something into the pond. The boy seemed happy as little creatures swam toward whatever it was he threw at the pond. She wanted to go meet him and see what it was that made him so happy. Before she could say anything Lu Ten called her over and with one last look at the boy she turned around and followed him._

 _They were now in another room. It looked like another bedroom, one that she hadn't seen before. In the middle of the room was a large bed, along the walls were many Fire Nation banners and other decorative tapestries from around the world. On a wall opposite of a drawer was a rack with four shiny swords. Well, big for her at least. By one corner were a couple of small seats with a short table with some sort of board game Lori didn't recognize with an assortment of tiles made to look like a flower with one white flower tile in the dead center. Right beside the rack hung a tapestry of a beautiful woman in a red flowing dress._

 _"This is my room." Lu Ten said bringing Lori out of her reverie._

 _"It big woom." Lori said. Lu Ten opened the door to the hall checking to see if there was anyone watching or listening. It was then Lori noticed a familiar door just down the hall from where they were._

 _"That my woom?" She asked and an passed him to go to the door. After opening and stepping inside she confirmed it was in fact her bedroom. "It is. It is my woom." She turned around as Lu Ten followed behind her._

 _"Wow. This is a nice room." He said. Lori nodded in agreement._

 _Lori turned to her bed seeing the familiar stuffed Rhino sitting there. She wanted to reach out for it but was to short to reach. When she tried to climb up the bed sheets ended up just falling. When She was about to give up, Lu Ten grabbed the toy and handed it to her. She hugged it tightly in her arms happy._

 _"Thank you Lu Ten." She said happily._

 _"No problem kiddo." He smiled ruffling her hair. Together they walked out of the room and returned to Lu Ten's room down the hall. Lori's eyes fell on the board game again._

 _"What dat?" She asked._

 _"Thats a Pai Sho table. It's a game." Lu Ten answered._

 _"Game?" She questioned and then pointed to it in anticipation. "Play?"_

 _"Um, it's a little hard to understand. Pai Sho is more of a game for, uh..." Lu Ten tried explaining the game to Lori. "...big kids."_

 _Lori's gazed dropped disappointed at the explanation. She didn't like that she was to little to play. Her attention returned to the game in question at the pattern the tiles were in. "Why flow?"_

 _Lu Ten looked over to how the tiles were left on the board. "Oh yeah. Thats the way my dad plays. I still don't understand it all that much, but my dad says I will in time."_

 _Lori turned back around to see a the tapestry of a the woman over the desk again. "That pwetty." She said._

 _Lu Ten joined her and stared at the tapestry with a dreamy look in his eye. "Yeah, its a self portrait of Ling. She's an artist." Lori looked back to Lu Ten in question. She didn't know what an artist was. "She likes to paint. And she's good at it."_

 _"She pwetty."_

 _"Yeah. She is."_

 _Lori once again turned around once again getting a full view of the room. "I like woom."_

 _"Well, feel free to come here whenever you like." Lu ten said as he walked over and opened a large window. He made to climb out which made Lori nervous._

 _"What you doing?" She asked._

 _"I'm climbing down to our training yard." He said, now fully out the window and hanging on the sill. "I do this to avoid the guards in the palace. And its fun. Come on."_

 _Lori walked over and saw how far down the ground was. She shook her head and backed away._

 _"Come on Lori it'll be okay."_

 _Again she shook her head. She clutched the stuffed animal in her arms tighter. "No. Scawy." She said backing._

 _"Don't be scared. I'll hang on to you. You'll be safe." Lu Ten tried to persuade her. Lori wanted to be convinced. She wanted to believe him. She stepped forward cautiously._

 _"Pwomise?" She asked._

 _Lu Ten raised one hand. "I promise."_ _He said._

 _With the promise of made of keeping her safe, Lori stepped forward and opened her arms and Lu Ten took her in one arms while she clung to him for dear life. It was a scary experience climbing down such a tall building. Lu Ten climbed down the trelace with only one arm while the other was holding onto the little girl who was clinging onto him for dear life. It was difficult but he finally managed to reach the ground level safely. He gently grabbed Lori, who was still shaking, and placed her on the ground. Now that she was safe she managed to calm down. The rush of adrenaline she felt in being in such a dangerous situation replaced the fear she felt with joy. She began to giggle._

 _"Again! Again!" She cheered laughing. Lu Ten laughed as well._

 _"Maybe later."_

 _Lori looked around the courtyard seeing all sorts of thing she had never seen before. This was Lu Ten's personal training yard where he practiced his fire bending, sword fighting, and his archery. Lu Ten did a good job at explaining what they were. On one side there was an_ _assortment of weapons on many racks: swords, daggers, maces, staffs, and spears. On another rack were four different bows and a two quivers of arrows. In the middle of the courtyard were several different dummies, a few made of wood for practicing his sword fighting and a few that were metal for his fire bending. They've all shown wear and tear after extensive use. On the opposite side of the yard were a set of targets at varying distances for practicing his archery, although Lu Ten spoke about how he wasn't very good at it._

 _Lu Ten grabbed a sword from the rack and began doing practice swings before during a flurry which Lori was amazed to see._

 _"Wow. You good." She said._

 _"Thanks. I've been training with swords for a couple years now. My dad said it would be useful learning other arts besides fire bending." He says before sheathing the sword and placing back on the rack._

 _"Who you daddy?" Lori asked._

 _"You've met him already. Iroh." Lu Ten answered and laughed when he saw the look of absolute shock on the little girls face._

 _"Uncle you daddy!? But you old." She said bluntly which made Lu Ten laugh even more._

 _"I'm not that old. I'm only seventeen." Lu Ten explains._

 _"Seventeen?" Lori questions and then looks down at her hands as though to confirm that she can't count that high. If its a real number then its most definitely bigger then ten. "That old."_

 _"It's not that old. How old are you?" He asks._

 _Lori throws up four fingers. "Dis many."_

 _Lu Ten begins to show Lori how to count to show her that he isn't as old as she thinks. He first begins to count on his own hands._

 _"Count with me." He says and together they count as he raises each finger. "One."_

 _"Two." Lori continues, touching each finger to keep up._

 _"Three."_

 _"Fo."_

 _"Five."_

 _"Si."_

 _"Seven."_

 _"Eight."_

 _"Nine."_

 _"Ten!" Lori says triumphantly as though she won a prize. "Do I win?"_

 _Lu Ten laughs. "No, not yet. See you made it to ten, but there are more numbers after that." he says which surprises Lori. "But its very simple. Your get to ten and then you kind of start over. Sort of._ _"_

 _He tries to explain and then demonstrates using Lori's fingers. He raises one of her fingers on her right hand and begins to continue where they left off._

 _"Since we ended at ten then this would be eleven."_

 _"Eleven?" She asks._

 _"Yeah. Its just ten, plus one. And so on and so on." Lori's mouth opens in surprise. She was still trying to understand the science behind counting. Lu Ten raises one more finger. "Then after eleven, we have twelve."_

 _"Twelve."_

 _"Yeah. It's ten, plus two." Lori nods her head. "And then after that is thirteen. And then fourteen." Fourteen. That number had 'four' in it which meant she knew what came next._

 _"And then five teen." She asks raising a fifth finger._

 _"Close kiddo. It's fifteen." Lu Ten corrects._

 _"Oh." Lori says looking sad by her mistake._

 _"But you were close. And then after fifteen is...?"_

 _Lori perks. "Siteen?"_

 _"Yeah. And then?"_

 _Lori says the number and is excited when she realizes that thats the how old Lu Ten is. "Seventeen!" She cheers throwing her hands in the air. "You seventeen!"_

 _Lu Ten laughs. "Yeah. I am."_

 _Lori laughs again but then something amazing comes to mind. There combined seventeen fingers up she begins to do math. Since she is four years old, she puts away four fingers from Lu Ten's hand and begins counting quietly. When She reaches the number she cheers excitedly._

 _"Thewteen." Lori cheers. "You thewteen mo then me!" She cheers happily._

 _Lu Ten laughs and Lori is happy. She learned to count after ten. She feels smart. And like any child her attention is then pulled to something shiny that catches her eye. She runs over to the sword rack and grabs the hilt of a shiny sword and tries to pull it off the rack._

 _"I wanna play!" She says and pulls on the sword but its to heavy. Before Lu Ten could stop her she managed to pull the sword free from the rack but it ended up falling over and knocking over all the other weapons. She nearly screamed when a big mace started falling over toward her and ran away before it could hit her. She turned around see at all the damage she had just caused and felt immediate shame for ruining everything._

 _"I sowwy." She said putting her head down._

 _Lu Ten gave a kind smile and began rearranging all the weapons back on the rack. Lori did her best to help but all the weapons were heavy. She dragged three swords and some two spears before she realized there wasn't much she could do, leaving Lu Ten to do all the work. After Lu Ten finished he looked back to Lori who still felt ashamed for her mishap. He walked over to her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up seeing his smiling face._

 _"It's alright kiddo. My dad once told me, 'It's alright to make mistakes so long as you learn from them'. Besides that one sword is pretty heavy anyways." He said._

 _Lori looked up at him in questioning. "What that mean?"_

 _Lu Ten rubbed the back of his neck. He was certain that the words of wisdom was simple enough to understand. Even to a four year old. "Well, it means... Well you know how you did that?" She nodded. "And you know that it was a no-no?"_

 _Lori looked over to the weapon rack again and then back to her feet. She knew it was a no-no. A big no-no and that Lu Ten was probably angry with her. She felt teary eyed. ""I sowwy." She apologized again._

 _"Hey its alright kiddo. You know that was a mistake, so now you know not to do it again. Easy as that." Lu Ten finalized._

 _Lori rubbed her eyes finally understanding the words of wisdom. She looked back up to Lu Ten who was smiling. He stood up and and walked over to a small crate that was sitting beside the bow rack. he reached in and picked up two wooden swords and then returned to Lori giving her one. "I usually practice with my cousin Zuko, but we can have fun with these too." Lu Ten said._

 _Lori held the wooden sword with both hands. It was a bit weighty in her small hands, but still far lighter then the one she tried to grab before. The sword was made of dark brown wood, and as big as her with leather wraps around the hilt for a more comfortable grip and to protect the user from splinters. She swung it around liking the idea of playing with this. She turned to Lu Ten who was now in a fighting stance with._

 _"Alright then, Master Lori. Come at me." Lu Ten challenged._

 _Lori giggled and charged at him giving a childish war cry. She swung her sword downward which Lu Ten managed to block with ease. Lori continued swinging and slashing but Lu Ten just continued to block and dodge without breaking a sweat. Lori was untrained and undisciplined, but she was having fun just playing. Lu Ten smiled as they continued. Lori swung her sword and Lu Ten blocked it, jumping back, feigning surprise, before repositioning and striking a pose._

 _"You truly are a worthy opponent Master Lori. But you have no chance of defeating I." Lu Ten said in dramatic voice._

 _Lori laughed. "You talk funny."_

 _Lu Ten put his hand to his chest and gasped, feigning shock. "How dare you insult me. I am the greatest swordsman in the Kingdom and you insult me. You have no honor."_

 _Lori laughed more and then raised her arms in the air and cried out. "I am Lod of the Ottew Penguins. You fishy."_

 _Lu Ten had to stifle a laugh from her cries and quickly returned to to his dramatic voice. "You have oppressed us long enough. We will have are freedom."_

 _Lori raised her sword and gave him a menacing growl. "It tweason then." She said and charged at him again swinging faster and harder._

 _Once again Lori swung her sword with the skill and ferocity of a child who had never held a sword in her life. Lu Ten again continued to block and dodge with no problem. There fearsome battle finally came to end when Lori poked her sword into Lu Ten's chest which he didn't bother to block. He grabbed his supposed wounded chest, dropped his sword and reeled back, pretending he was wounded and dying, giving an overly dramatic death scene.  
_

 _"No. This can't be. I fought for all my people. My Freedom." He carefully lied down on the floor on his back raised his arm as though calling to the spirits and gave a dramatic coughing fit.. "Ling. Forgive. Me._ Blah!" _He exclaimed indicating his final death along with his eyes closed and his tongue sticking out._

 _Lori jumped on top of him making him grunt form the sudden surprise of her appearance. She giggled and then stood tall on her fallen foe and declared in a mighty cry. "I Am Ozymandias! The Penguin Lods of Penguin Lods! Look upon my..." She was interrupted at the sound laughing coming from a door._

 _"Mei Lein!" She cheered, jumping off Lu Ten and running toward her, dropping her sword and hugging her happily. "Mei Lein. I kill Lu Ten!" She cheered happily._

 _"I saw that. You are really are a great warrior." She praised making Lori laugh. Lu Ten slowly started getting back up still laughing from Lori's declaration. "I thought you two mighty warriors could use a snack." She said show a covered tray. Upon removing the covered, Lori saw a couple of Moon Peaces. She gasped and instantly grabbed one and started chowing down on it._

 _She heard Lu Ten laugh behind her as he stood back up. Lori just ignored him. He was just jealous he lost. "Wow. She sure loves moon peaches."_

 _"You have no idea." Mei Lein said._

 _Lori had just finished her first peach before reaching to grab another. Before she ate it though she stopped and turned back to Lu Ten. He deserved to have one too._

 _She grabbed another one and ran to Lu Ten, handing him the second peach. "Shae." She said offering him the peach as a peace offering. He gladly took it._

 _"Well thank you very much, Penguin Lord." he joked which made Lori giggle. Lori then turned back around to Mei Lein who stood there and watched them smiling._

 _"Mei Lein! I kill Lu Ten and we fwiends now!" She cheered as she continued eating her peach with her new friend while the two grown ups laughed._


	13. I Still Remember: About a Boy

_Two months. It had been two months since Lori had arrived in the Fire Nation. Six months total since she had been taken from the Fire nation. She used to be scared out of her mind, being taken away from the comfort of her home and family by the big bad Fire Nation. The uncertainty of what the bad people would do to her left her in a near permanent state of dread; Unsure of what they would do to her. She grew up being told of all the bad things the Fire Nation had done to not only the Southern Water Tribe and Water Benders, but to the world as well._

 _She remembered all the things her father and mother would say about the Fire Nation, but her life here was very different to what she imagined. She always thought that the Fire Nation was some burning hell hole with flowing rivers of lava and angry and evil people burning everything they could see with the evil Fire bending. She didn't see any of that. In fact the Fire Nation was very beautiful with big bright trees and blooming flowers of all sorts of colors she had never seen before. This place was beautiful. But still it wasn't home, but she tried to make the most of it. At least not yet._

 _It felt like forever since she last saw her family and she missed them dearly, especially her sister Katara. She missed her. She felt like she was missing her other half without having her sister around. Her older twin was always the one who made her feel safe. She wished she was here with her in the Fire Nation so that she wouldn't be as alone anymore._

 _At least she wasn't completely alone. Mei Lein had come to being her personal care taker but she had also become very important in Lori's life. Mei Lein bathed her, dressed her, groomed her and made sure her room was nice and clean, but she had also come to teach Lori a thing or two about being a young lady, but sometimes, she would also indulge and just play with the little girl. Often times before bed, Mei Lein would brush her hair and answer any questions Lori asked her to the best of her ability or they would just talk about her day._

 _On more then one occasion she would hear Lori wake in the middle of the night crying from an apparent nightmare. Although she was on the floor beneath her, Mei Lein would run as quickly as she could, following the crying to the child and find Lori curled up in bed, crying for her mommy to help her. "Mommy. Help. Mommy!"_

 _Mei Lein would climb into the bed and gently wake Lori up from her terror. "Lori, wake up." She would shake and the girl would wake up panting from the nightmare with her eyes searching the room for her would be attacker or savior. she would turn to look at Mei Lein with a worried look in her eyes. Mei Lein wondered what she was thinking in that moment. Was she scared of being in the Fire Nation instead of being back home? Was she relieved to have Mei Lien here with her or was she saddened that it wasn't her mother?_

 _"Lori its okay love. It was just a bad dream." Mei Lein said softly as she gently stroked her hair back. Lori buried her self into Mei Lein, wrapping her short arms around not wanting to let go, and not wanting for her to leave her._

 _"Mei Lein." Lori would whimper out._

 _The adult just brushed her hair and gave soft coo's to calm the girl. "It's okay love. I won't let any monster hurt you." Mei Lein said before planting a small kiss on her head. She begins to sing her a little lullaby and Lori's whimpers quiet down and she no longer is scared. Mei Lein's gently brushes Lori's hair and Lori grabs hold of one of her hands mid-stroke. Mei Lein stoped brushing and held Lori's hand tighter._

 _"Mei Lein, can you tell me stowy?" Lori asks, her eye's fluttering slightly._

 _Mei Lein smiled. "Of course love. This is one my mother once told me."_

 _Lori slowly nods off as Mei Lein recounts the story and she falls asleep in Mei Lein's arms. Mei Lein doesn't leave her side all night._

 _Iroh was a kind old man. He always came with a warm smile and a hearty laugh, along with a warm pot of delicious tea. In fact, it had become an anomaly whenever Iroh showed up without a pot of tea. They would often drink and talk and Iroh would tell her stories. He had also come to teach her how to play Pai Sho after seeing the board game in Lu Ten's room. He tried to show her that the game was about patience and strategy. Well he would at least tried. The small girl would get bored really quickly just like his nephew. But it aloud them to talk more and spend time together. They loved spending time together._

 _Iroh enjoyed talking about his long career in the military or of just his many_ _journeys around the world. With some censorship of course. Lori was always amazed and listened intently to all his stories, she sometimes wished she could go on a journey too just like her new uncle did. Imagine the surprise when Lori shouted out to him one day._

 _"Can I be in amy!?" She asked with such excitement that Iroh nearly dropped the tea pot from her request. He looked at her to see her eyes wide with excitement._

 _"I'm sorry, you want to join the army?" Iroh asked. Lori nodded excitedly. "The Fire Nation?" She nodded again. "When?"_

 _"Wight now!" She said jumping into his lap. "I wanna be in amy now! Let go on adventue!" She declared excitedly._

 _Iroh had to hold back the laugh he held. She clearly didn't understand that there was much more to the army then just traveling across the world. Still though, as much as he admired her ambition, he knew she couldn't for the obvious reason._

 _"I'm sorry Lori, but you can't join the army."_

 _Lori's face dropped and her excitement faded. "Why not?"_

 _"Your too small."_

 _Lori looked down to her small stature seeing that her uncle was in fact right. She was small. She pouted and crossed her arms as she returned to her seat on the opposite side of the board. "I no like being small." She said begrudgingly. Iroh laughed at her poutines._

 _"I'm sorry Lori but those are the rules. You can't join the army until you get bigger."_

 _Lori stood up defiantly and threw her arms in the air for emphasis. "Then I get biggew! And when I get biggew, I go in amy!" She declared._

 _Iroh couldn't help but laugh at her declaration, but didn't argue. In fact he felt a little proud. "Well, I'll hold you up to that. Now lets get back to Pai Sho._

 _Lori deflated and sat back in her seat. She really didn't like this game. Iroh moved one of the tiles. Lori moved a random tile still having a hard time understanding this game. "This game bowing."_

 _"Now you see Lori, this game is about patience and strategy. You must think before you act." He said as he precisely moved a tile to a specific spot. Lori moved a tile a random. "Strategy and patience are two things you must learn if you wish to join the army." He reached back to pour another pot of tea. "If you can master Pai Sho, then some day you will become a great general like..." He was caught off guard when he turned back and saw Lori had pulled all the tiles and made a little house._

 _"Look uncle. I made house." She giggled._

 _Iroh was surprised for a moment but then gave a hearty laugh at what she had made. She was just a four year old girl after all. Four year olds just played. His laughs made her laugh even more._

 _"You know whats missing?" Iroh said and then pulled the Lotus tile and put it beside the house. "A lovely tree._

 _"That pwetty twee."_

 _They both laughed at their enjoyment, but as always their fun had to come to an end. Their laughter was silenced when a servant entered the room, notifying General Iroh of an important meeting. Iroh sighed but stood up and apologized to Lori that he had to go. She understood, but it made her sad. She ran to him and hugged him._

 _"Bye uncle." She said sadly._

 _"Don't worry Lori." He returned the hug. "We'll see each other at dinner."_

 _Lu Ten had become her new favorite person. He was always happy and in a good mood. They spent a lot of time together in his room and in the training yard where they often played swords. Lori liked playing swords with Lu Ten and he enjoyed spending time with her too. As an only child, he saw Lori as sort of a little sister. Whenever she was afraid or nervous of something and Mei Lein wasn't present, she came to him for help._

 _The training yard was where they spent most of their time together. Lori liked playing with all of Lu Ten's stuff, although he was adamant that they weren't toys, they were dangerous weapons and she needed to be careful with them. She liked playing with a wooden club because it made her feel like a strong warrior like her brother and father. Whenever she fought and "beat" Lu Ten she felt like she was growing stronger and stronger which was then rewarded with a nice snack from Mei Lein, usually in the form of moon peaches._

 _Lu Ten enjoyed showing Lori new things such as swordsmanship and archery, however he wasn't so much as training her, they were playing and having fun. Even whenever Lori would miss and hit a pot or a window in archery she would always celebrate and declare herself the best._

 _On one day in the training yard Lori was mesmerized by Lu Ten's fire bending. The way he practiced his moves and his strikes on the metal dummies, the very fact that he was simply shooting fire from his fists was amazing to her. She wished she was a as cool as Lu Ten, having cool weapons in his backyard and being to shoot fire from her hands was really cool to her. As she watched Lu Ten practice his moves she would mimic his moves to practice herself. She copied nearly every punch, swing, and kick that Lu Ten did, albeit with less finess and discipline. Lu Ten turned around and saw that Lori had been copying him._

 _"What are you doing Lori?" He asked._

 _Lori didn't falter and continued her moves. "I fie bend too." She said throwing another punch hoping to produce a flame._

 _"I can see that." Lu Ten chided. Lori continued punching and kicking, and grew more upset when nothing happened. "Remember to take a deep breath." He offered._

 _Lori took a deep breath before throwing another punch. Nothing happened. She grumbled and sat down crossing her arms. "Why I no Fie Bend!? You and uncle Fie bend!"_

 _Lu Ten kneeled in front of her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Well Lori its because, your not a Fire bender." He stated simply which only raised more questions for Lori. "Fire benders are originally from the Fire Nation. My dad and I are from the Fire Nation which is why we're Fire Benders." He explained._

 _Lori was slowly starting to understand that Fire benders were from the Fire Nation. But that still raised the question, what about her. "What about me?"_

 _"Well where are you from?"_

 _"South Pole. I Watew Twibe." She answered._

 _"Well there you go." Lu Ten exclaimed. "_ Water _Benders are originally from the Water Tribe. So since your Water tribe, then you might be a water bender._

 _Mentioning Water bender and that she could be a water bender made Lori jump to her feet. Lu Tn was caught off guard by her suddenness as she began to step back. She looked scared and defensive as she pulled her hands close to her chest. "Lori whats wrong?" Lu Ten asked._

 _Lori looked down and shook her head. "I no watew bendew." She stated. "I no want to be watew bendew." She said again taking steps back. She was scared that if she turned out to be a water bender then the bad men would come and take her away again. Thats why they took her in the first place wasn't it? They thought she was a Water Bender and so they took her away. She didn't want to be taken away again. She didn't want to be taken away from Lu Ten, Mei Lein and Iroh._

 _"Lori its okay." Lu Ten said gently as he got closer. She sniffled but didn't pull away. "You don't have to be a bender of any kind. We can still play." He said pulling her into a hug._

 _"But I wanna be Fie bendew. Fie Bend cool." She said._

 _Lu Ten chuckled at her words. "Yeah maybe, but its not as great as it seems." He said. "Like whenever you go camping, everyone expects you to light the campfire, light lanterns, heat the food, it gets really exhausting." He complained which made Lori giggle._

 _"What camping?"_

 _"You know, camping! Going out into the wilderness and tents and fishing and... you know what we'll go sometime. It'll be fun."_

 _Lori laughed at the idea of fun, but their current fun was cut short as two guards entered the training yard, signaling that Lu Ten had to go. Lu Ten sighed as he stood up. "Maybe next time kiddo."_

 _Lori nodded and hugged him before he left. "Bye Lu Ten."_

 _"See you later kiddo." He said ruffling her hair before leaving._

 _Everyone seemed to leave just when they were having fun. She wished she had a real friend her own age that didn't have to go to dumb old meetings._

 _From time to time during her outings she had also seen that boy. That mysterious boy she first saw on her first and second day in the Fire Nation, but just like those previous times, she only managed to catch glimpses of him and for only a second. She would very much like to meet him. She would like to have a friend she could play with._

* * *

 _"lori." Came a whisper from what had become a familiar voice to her. "lori hun."_

 _Lori curled up more in her bed. She didn't have a scary dream this time, she just wanted more sleep. She didn't understand why the Fire Nation woke up so early in the morning. And she had been told that she got at least two extra hours of sleep, but it still wasn't enough_

 _"Lori dear, its time to wake up." Mei Lein said once again this time giving her shoulder a little shake. Lori gave a grumble, not wanting to wake up. "Come on dear, don't you want breakfast with Iroh and Lu Ten?"_

 _Lori's eyes popped open at the mention of breakfast making Mei Lein giggle. "Good morning Little Lady Lori." Mei Lein said. It was something that she had come to call her._

 _"Good Moning." Lori said back with smile._

 _Lori took her slow time fully waking up and getting up from bed, rubbing her eyes to wake herself up. She did want breakfast, and she did want to have it with two out of her three new favorite people in the Fire Nation. Lori raised her arms and Mei Lein lifted her out of bed and carried her without question for her morning bath. Fifteen minutes later she was clean and dressed and ready for the day._

 _Together they walked out of her room and made there way to the dining room where Lu Ten and Iroh were waiting for her. Upon arriving both men looked up to see the woman and girl. Lori ran from Mei Lein to each men giving them a hug. They both laughed from her childish delight._

 _"Good moning Uncle. Good moning Lu Ten._ _" She said and hugged them each._

 _"Morning kiddo." Lu Ten said._

 _"Good morning Lori. I am glad you could join us for breakfast." The older man said._

 _Before Lori took her seat she quickly ran back to Mei Lein before she could walk out, wrapping her arms around her to prevent her escape. Mei Lein looked down at her confused, seeing the pleading look the little girls big blues eyes. "Mei Lein, can you stay fo bweakfast?" Lori pleaded. Mei Lein had a habit of leaving just before breakfast even started. "Pwetty pwease?"_

 _Mei Lein put her hands on her shoulders and smiled softly. "I'm sorry hun, but I can't. I have a lot of work to do today._ _" Mei Lein tried to explain gently for the little girl. Lori lowered her head and whimpered. Mei Lein hugged her. "Don't worry love. This is never good-bye, I'll see you later, okay?"_

 _"Okay." Lori answered._

 _"Okay then." Mei Lein said back and gave her a soft kiss on the top of her head. "Enjoy your breakfast Little Lady Lori."_

 _Mei Lein walked out of the dining room leaving the child with the to men. She really wished that she could have joined them. "Don't worry Lori. Now please have a seat and enjoy breakfast with us." Iroh said._

 _Lori stopped pouting and took her seat beside Lu Ten where she was served her portion of breakfast. As always the meal was delicious and she had no complaints about the quality of the food. Iroh and Lu Ten spoke about their business which Lori tuned out. Nothing but boring grown up stuff she knew nothing about. She didn't like it when they talked about grown up stuff, because she felt left out. She had come to realize that she was kind of alone. Her only friends here in the Fire Nation were all grown ups and while Lu Ten said how he was still young and was happy to play with her, he still had grown up things to do. It really made her sad being alone._

 _Once she had her fill she gently pushed the plate away from her telling the other men she was full. The other two men were still eating and so Lori excused herself. "Uncle, can I go play?" She asked._

 _"Of course Lori just be sure to be carful. We will find you soon." Iroh._

 _Lori stood from her seat and ran out of the dining room. In the two months she had been here, she was now more familiar with the layout of the palace that it didn't take her long for her to find her way to the training yard. She only got lost twice before she finally made it, and she started with playing with a wooden sword. She just hoped that Lu Ten would be here soon._

 _Back in the dining room Lu Ten and Iroh had been discussing Lori's situation. They along with Mei Lein were all aware of how lonely she was, and so they devised a plan. "Have you received word from my Aunt Ursa?" Lu Ten asked his father._

 _Iroh sipped his tea. "I have yet to hear her response, but I am sure she will be happy to comply." He said with a smile._

 _After another minute Mei Lein walked in with a piece of parchment in her hands. "General Iroh, this just arrived." She said with any exciting smile._

 _Iroh put down the cup and grabbed the parchment. He quietly read the message and soon enough, a smile appeared on his face. "Your aunt has agreed." he said before passing the parchment to his son. Lu Ten took it and read the message._

Dear Iroh

I had received your message the other day and believe it is a wonderful idea for my children to meet your new charge. Since the day we heard of the arrival of the young girl, I have been looking forward to meeting her and would be delighted for Zuko and Azula to meet her as well. I am sure they will become fast friends. I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely

Lady Ursa

 _Lu Ten smiled after reading the letter. He rolled it up before looking back at his father. "I'm glad. I'm sure my cousins will make good friends for Lori. She'll be so thrilled."_

 _"I sure hope that she and Azula will get along." Mei Lein added._

 _Iroh nodded and turned to Mei Lein who was waiting patiently. "Send a message to Lady Ursa that we wish to introduce Lori to the rest of the family this afternoon."_

 _Mei Lein nodded and went off immediately. While she was off Iroh and Lu Ten had finished their breakfast and had the servants take all their dishes before standing from their seats. Iroh had meetings to attend regarding the war and had to go immediately. He wished he could retire already so that he could spend more time with Lori, but the war needed its generals. At least his son could be with her in his place._

 _"Well I'm off to find Lori, I'm sure she's bored being all by herself. I'm looking forward to her meeting Zuko and Azula."_

* * *

 _Mei Lein was in a good mood. She had personally delivered Iroh's message to Lady Ursa and and she was happy to agree of introducing Lori this afternoon at lunch time. She had finished her work and had just picked up a few fresh moon peaches for Lori to snack on. She had just arrived in the training yard where Lori and Lu Ten had been playing for the past few hours. Sliding the door open and walked out into the training yard to find Lu Ten, along with two other guards, looking up at the sky, but she didn't see Lori. She approached him, platter in hand, and announced herself gleefully and was ready to ask where Lori was when she too looked up._

 _"Hello Lu Ten. I was wondering where, OH MY GOD!" She all but shouted as she looked up to see Lori scaling the wall by the_ _trellis. "LORI, WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING!" This time shouted, losing all her lady training from fear that the child will fall._

 _Lori looked down from where she was hanging and smiled at Mei Lein. "Ello Mei Lein." She gleefully called._

 _"Lori get down here right now before you get hurt!" Mei Lein called and then turned to Lu Ten, completely forgetting her place and berating a member of the royal family as though he was a misbehaving child. "How could you let this happen Lu Ten, she's just a little girl!"_

 _Lu Ten nearly cowered, he had never seen her this mad before. Her anger subsided slightly and she returned to Lori who was still climbing. "Lori dear, please come back down." She pleaded._

 _"But I almost make it." She argued and continued climbing. She had made it to the second floor was half way to the third._

 _"Don't worry Mei Lein, she'll be okay. See?" He points up to show that there was a guard at the window waiting for Lori. "Chey will get her."_

 _"Hello there miss. Don't worry." Chey calmly calls._

 _Lu Ten then gestured to the two guards beside him each holding one end of a tarp to catch the girl in case of emergency. "And with us, we got are bases covered."_

 _Despite the precautions that Lu Ten took, Mei Lein was still scared of Lori falling and getting hurt. She couldn't bare seeing her little girl get hurt and possibly break something. Just as Lori grabbed hold of another plank and lifted her foot, another plank broke and she was left hanging with her hands. She gave a cry as she hung there too afraid and too weak to pull herself up. Mei Lein gasped in horror as Lori clung onto the planks for dear life._

 _"Lori!" Lu Ten called up to her. "Don't panic, you'll be okay."_

 _"Elp Me!" Lori called out. "I no move!"_

 _Before she could do or say anything else the planks broke and she fell, crying out in fear. Mei Lein covered her mouth trying to silence her scream of terror as her little girl fell off the only thing that was keeping her suspended in the air. Before anything else could happen Lu Ten reached up and caught Lori mid air before she could hit the ground. He held her close, feeling Lori's shake as the adrenaline from her "near death experience" began to subside, her arms clung to Lu Ten like a life line. After a couple seconds she stopped and let go of the older boy._

 _"That scawy." She said flatly and giggled as Lu Ten put her down. Every man in the training yard gave a sigh of relief that the girl was alright._

 _Mei Lein scooped her up and hugged her tightly. "Oh my God, are you alright Little Lady Lori?" Mei Lein pleaded as she hugged her tighter and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. She had never been so scared in her life._

 _"I okay Mei Lein. It not scawy." She calmly explained._

 _Mei Lein pulled away slightly "Don't ever frighten me like that again! Do you understand young lady! Don't do anything like that again!" Mei Lein nearly scolds the little girl and Lori vigorously nods her head. Mei Lein then put her down to look at both of them. "And you too young man. I don't want to catch the two of you doing something so foolish ever again!" She declared once again, her near roaring voice making the two guards retreat out of fear that they might get hurt._

 _Both Lori and Lu Ten gave a salute as Lu Ten apologized, feeling like a little boy again. "Yes ma'am! It won't happen again ma'am."_

 _"Good! you two are dismissed." She said to the other two guards. The two gave a salute and ran off._

 _Mei Lein turned back to the children in front of her. She looked to Lori who was still saluting and her anger quickly dissipated. She bent down and hugged her again._

 _"I'm sorry for being mad at you love, just please don't scare me like that again." She said calmly this time and gave Lori another kiss. Lori hugged her back._

 _"I sowwy Mei Lein. I sowwy fo scawying you." She said kindly._

 _"It's okay love. Just don't do it again. You nearly gave me a heart attack." She added and gave a little laugh. She let go of the little girl and stood back up. It was just about time. "Besides todays a special day. Right Lu Ten?" She asked the boy through near gritted teeth, as though accusing him of forgetting and letting Lori do extreme stunts like scaling the wall._

 _"Of course it is."_

 _Lori looked to the two in confusion. "Special day? Why?" She asked._

 _"Today you'll finally meet the rest of the family." Lu Ten said._

 _Lori was surprised by this information. "West of family?"_

* * *

 _The next hour Mei Lein had been dressing and preparing Lori for the afternoon. Since she was going to be meeting the rest of the family today, she wanted to make sure Lori was in her best. They were currently in Lori's room, and the entire time Lori kept asking questions and guessing. "Mei Lein?"_

 _"Yes dear."_

 _"Today special again?"_

 _Mei Lein smiled once again "Because today you'll be meeting some very special people."_

 _"Nice people?" She asked._

 _"Yes love. Nice people." Mei Lein said as she adjusted the ties of her shoes. She then moved to fixing her tunics collar and sleeves. She wanted to make sure Lori was in perfect shape and that just wouldn't be if her collar and sleeves weren't fixed. Once she was finished she pulled Lori up to the bed and began brushing her hair._

 _Lori just sat on the bed humming a soft tune from a song that she remembered from back home. She remembered her mommy sometimes used to sing it when she was in a good mood. She really liked the song, and she missed it when her mommy used to sing it._

 _"Thats beautiful Lori. What is it?" Mei Lein asked._

 _"A song my mommy sing." She said cheerfully. "I like it a lot."_

 _"Well, I liked it too. Do you know the words?"_

 _Lori's face strained as she tried to recall the words her mommy used to say along with the song but she couldn't recall them. "No."_

 _"Oh. Well thats fine. Just keep humming it." Mei Lein encouraged and continued brushing her hair. Lori smiled and continued humming the happy tone which made her feel comfortable._

 _Mei Lein finished Lori's hair and finished off with make her ponytail and placing her fire hairpin. With the soft sound of the pin closing in place, Lori reached up to feel how smooth her hair felt. She gave a giggle. She didn't know how Mei Lein did it, but she always made her hair feel nice._

 _"There you go. All ready." Mei Lein said as she stood up off the bed._

 _Lori looked up and stood on her bed looking at her new outfit. "Am I pwetty?"_

 _Mei Lein giggled. "Yes love. Your very pretty._ _" She answered happily._

 _Lori giggled and reached out to hug Mei Lein. "Thank you Mei Lein."_

 _Mei Lein hugged her back and gave her a kiss on the head. "Your very welcome Little Lady Lori."_

 _They separated and Mei Lein helped Lori off the bed just as the door opened to reveal Iroh._

 _"Ello uncle." She said and ran up to him so that she could show him her new outfit._

 _"Hello dear. My you look very beautiful." Iroh said cheerfully._

 _"Mm hm. Mei Lein make me pwetty." She said and made a twirl, giggling as she did so._ _Iroh laughed as well._

 _"Well I say its time to get going." Iroh said and took Lori by the hand._

 _"Okay. Bye Mei Lein." Lori said and waved._

 _"Good-bye Lori. And behave yourself." Mei Lein warned._

 _Although Lori was now more so aware of the layout of the palace she still preferred the comfort that Iroh provided by holding her hand and guiding her. After walking for a short time she was very much glad she stayed with Iroh because she ended up taking her to a part of the palace she hadn't seen before. She grew nervous to the new layout and got closer to her elder who only smiled at her nervousness. They finally made it to a large dining room that was larger and more ornate then the one the ate that morning and waiting for them was a tall beautiful woman in more ornate robes then the staff. She must've been a big deal and the special person they were meeting._

 _"Hello Iroh." She said and bowed._

 _"Hello Lady Ursa. It is a pleasure to see you." Iroh returned the bow. The lady, now known as Ursa looked to Lori with a warm smile. Still Lori clung to Iroh, being nervous around this stranger._

 _"So is this her?" She asked._

 _"Yes it is. And where are my niece and nephew?" Iroh asked._

 _"They should be here soon." She answered._

 _Just then they heard laughter coming from down the hall and then suddenly the door was pushed opened and in came running a young boy and an even younger girl behind him. The boy laughed while the girl seemed annoyed by his laughing._

 _"Ha ha ha, I win. I beat you." The boy said happily to the girl._

 _"No fair, you cheated." The little girl said._

 _"Did not."_

 _"Did too."_

 _"Did not!"_

 _"Did too!"_

 _"Children." Ursa said in a calm matter but it seemed to speak volumes as the two children quieted and turned to the guests. "Your uncle and I would like you to meet someone."_

 _"Is it that water tribe girl?" The little girl asked uninterested._

 _"Hush." The boy said._

 _The entire time Lori was in stunned silence. Standing before her was that boy. The very same boy she had seen around the palace from time to time. The same boy she had been wanting to meet, and now here he was in front of her. He was a little older then her with a soft face with wide, bright, kind golden eyes and a nice warm smile._

 _"Hi." The boy said._

 _"Hello." Said the girl._

 _Lori was still speechless. Here was the boy she had been wanting to meet since the day she first saw him. She didn't know what to say or do. She was left awe struck from his presence. The way he said 'hi' seemed to be the nicest and purest she had ever heard. She was so tongue tied and nervous that she ultimately ran behind Iroh and hid, peeking out a little so that she could still see him. The two children just looked at each other in confusion, unsure of what she was doing._

 _"She's weird." The girl said quietly but Lori could still hear her._

 _"No she's not." The boy came to her rescue which made Lori blush. "She's just nervous is all."_

 _The boy then turned back to Lori and the bright smile returned. "Hi there my..." He began to approach and Lori panicked and ran to her elders other side. The boy caught off guard went around to catch her._

 _"Hey my name..." He tried to get out but Lori ran back to her previous safety. Still the boy didn't relent as he too went to his uncle's other side to catch her. They continued going back and forth for sometime which made Iroh laugh._

 _"Hi, my name... My name is... my name..." The boy turned around and ran as fast as possible until he finally caught up to her and was now face to face with her which made her cry out little. The whole time the boy smiled. He was having fun. "Hi. My name is Zuko." He said to the Lori. He thought she was pretty._

 _He ran back around to return to his mother and the girls side. Lori followed only until she was safely beside her elder. He pointed to the woman, Ursa. "This is my mom. And this is my little sister Az-" He pointed to the little girl but she interrupted him._

 _"I can say my own name Zuzu." The little girl said arrogantly. The boy groaned upset, most likely from the nickname._ _"My name is Azula. Who are you?"_

 _Lori was suddenly on the spot and she didn't like the attention she was receiving. She clung closer to her elder not liking how all eyes were staring at her like she were a piece of meat._

 _"Please forgive her. She just shy around strangers." Iroh defended her. "Its okay dear. These are my niece and nephew. They are family." Iroh explained._

 _Her_ _explanation of them made her comfortable enough to finally let go and stand firm on her own. She put her head up and introduced herself. "My name Lowi." She said softly._

 _The two children, Zuko and Azula, just stared at her, then to each other, and then back to her. "Your name is Lowi?" Zuko asked._

 _Here we go again. She had to try and explain how to pronounce her name. "No, my name Lowi."_

 _"Your saying your name is Lowi?" Azula asked._

 _"No. Lowi." She said shaking her head. She was getting really annoyed._

 _"Your saying the same thing over and over again. You keep saying Lowi."_

 _Lori was really mad now. "No! Lowi! Lo! Wi!"_

 _Zuko finally managed to guess. "Lori?."_ _Lori nodded. Finally glad he got it. She found that she liked him more. "Its nice to meet you Lori._ _"_

 _She nodded again. Suddenly her stomach growled which she found slightly embarrassing. "Uncle." She turned to her elder. "I hungwy."_

 _Zuko perked up at the sound of that. "We were just about to have lunch! Mom, can Lori have lunch with us?" he asked._

 _"Of course she can. Why don't she and your uncle both join us for lunch." she said._

 _Zuko cheered. "Great." He said and took Lori's hand. "Come on, you can sit next to me." He said and led to her to the dining table and to their seats. Iroh, Ursa and Azula soon followed, the adults laughed at the two children while Azula was indifferent._

 _Lunch went well Ursa and Iroh made idle chatter but they mostly watched Lori interact with Zuko and Azula. She and Zuko really hit it off really well, but Azula wasn't so much into making new friends. Lori was still quite apprehensive, but she slowly opened up to Zuko more and more. She really seemed to like Zuko._

 _"Have you met my cousin Lu Ten?" Zuko asked._

 _Lori perked up. "Lu Ten? He my fwend. We play sood fighting." She said and swung her chop sticks like a sword._

 _Zuko laughed as he watched Lori's playful antics. He too took his sticks and start playing fighting, only his were more precise Lori was wild and crazy. But they had fun. Azula was annoyed by how much they enjoyed each other. Maybe she was a little jealous._

 _"So how do you like living in the Fire Nation?" Zuko asked before taking a sip from his tea._

 _Lori took her last bite of what she now knew was Komodo chicken. "It weally pwetty. All the flows pwetty."_

 _Zuko perked up again. "You like flowers?"_

 _Lori nodded enthusiastically. "I love flows!"_

 _Zuko turned to his mom. They were already done with lunch anyway. "Hey mom, can I show Lori the garden?" He asked. Lori perked up at the mention of a garden. She really hoped it was the garden with all the pretty flowers._

 _"Just be sure to clean after yourselves." Ursa said._

 _"Alright!" Zuko said and took Lori's hand and lead her out of the dining room._

* * *

 _Before they could make it to the garden, Zuko had to make a quick stop to the kitchen to grab a loaf of bread. Upon returning to his new friend he saw the confused look on her face._ _"This is one of my favorite things to do. I'll show you." He said and once again grabbed Lori's hand and they ran together._

 _They finally made to the garden, and upon seeing it, Lori was left awe struck. It was even more beautiful then the previous times she'd seen it. All of the bright and colorful flowers made Lori smile with much elation. Zuko laughed at her reaction. "Yeah, this is our royal garden. I love coming here."_

 _"They all weally pwetty." She said with such astonishment._

 _"Yeah, they all are." Zuko said and pointed to some of the different flowers. "Theres mostly Fire Lilies, Southern Ember roses, and other flowers from the Fire Nation, but mom likes to collect flowers from all over the world._ _"_

 _Lori was lost in her own little world, a world filled with bright, colorful, and beautiful flowers so rich and wonderful. Before she even realized it there was a white flower in front of her face. She gasped at the sight and of its bright white petals which seemed to shine in the sun which seemed to contrast with there black coat. She took it in her hands gently._

 _"Its a Panda Lily." Zuko said._

 _"Panda. Lily." Lori repeated. "It weally pwetty."_

 _"Yeah they are. My mom said these are from the Earth Kingdom. They say they grow in volcanos."_

 _"What Vol, volca, Vol can..."_

 _"Volcanos?" Zuko finished. Which Lori nodded. "Volcanos. There like big mountains, but there filled with lava."_

 _"What lava?"_

 _"Seriously?" Zuko was really surprised that she didn't know what a Volcano or what lava was. Lori nodded. "Lava is like water. But red, and really REALLY hot! You wouldn't wanna go swimming in it."_

 _"Can I have!" She asked excitedly._

 _"What the flower?" Zuko asked. Lori nodded. Zuko rubbed the back of his neck, uncertain. "I don't really know. They say your supposed to give to someone special to you."_

 _"You special." Lori said. Zuko was taken aback by her response. "Uncle and Mei Lein say today I meet special people. Nice people. You nice."_

 _Zuko blushed from her explanation. He didn't understand what his uncle or Mei Lein meant by special. He had never been called special before. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't something he was used to hearing. He blushed._

 _"Well, I don't think thats what they mean. The flower I mean. I think your supposed to give to your girlfriend or something._ _" Zuko tried to elaborate._

 _"I gool. And you my fwend." Lori said and smiled._

 _"No, I mean when you_ like _like someone. Like really, REALLY like someone. And like, holding hands and stuff."_

 _"I like you Zuko. And you old my hand a lot. That mean you weally WEALLY like me." She giggled and Zuko blushed hard. "I weally like you. Can I have?" She asked again._

 _Zuko was brighter then the red flowers surrounding them. Lori's words kept him in the spot. She just said she liked him. Maybe that was just her way of being friendly. He didn't think he was ready for a girlfriend at this stage of life. He was only six. Or maybe he was just overthinking it, and she just wanted the flower._

 _"Uh, I guess so. Sure."_

 _Lori cheered and threw her hands in the air. "Yeah. Thank you Zuko. You best fwend in whole wide wold." She said, hugging him and then giving him a kiss on the cheek._

 _Zuko turned even brighter if it were possible and he felt his face heat up hotter then fire, and Lori hugging him tightly and her putting her head to the crook of his neck. Zuko was stiff and didn't know how to react, not really knowing how to act around girls. He slowly begins to wrap her hands around her, but Lori already pulls away to admire her new gift. Zuko exhales in relief while Lori smells her new flower._

 _"It weally pwetty." She says. "Smell pwetty."_

 _"Uh, yeah sure." Zuko said and finally remembered the loaf of bread and why he brought it with him in the first place. "Hey come with me, theres something I wanna show you." He said and without thinking once again grabbed her hand and led her to the pond._

 _Together they sat by the pond and as though they were waiting a family of tiny little bird like creatures with shells swam toward them quacking. Lori was in awe at the adorable little critters who happily quacked at the sight of them. She watched as Zuko picked some pieces of bread from the loaf in his hand and and tossed them into the pond where the eager little critters gobbled them up and quacked for more._

 _"What they?" She asked._

 _"They're Turtle Ducks." Zuko answered._

 _"Tutle Duck." She said. Zuko broke a piece of bread and handed it to her._

 _"Here break some pieces and toss them in." He instructed and demonstrated again, breaking off little pieces and tossing them in the pond._

 _Lori did as such, breaking off little pieces and tossing them in the pond, she watched as the little Turtle Ducks swam to her spot and eagerly gobbled up the pieces in satisfaction. She giggled. "They so cute."_ _She said and continued to breaks little piece and tossing them in the pond._

 _"This is even better. Take some pieces and then put your hand in the water. Like this." Zuko advised and did as he said, putting bites in his hand and dipping his hand in the water._

 _Lori followed suit, taking bread bites in the palm of her hand and dipping her hand in the water. The little Turtle Ducks quacked happily as they swam to her hand and nibbled on it, taking the bites for themselves. Lori laughed happily and stomped her feet from the sensation of them eating off her hand. "Ha ha ha. They tickle. Ha ha ha."_

 _Zuko laughed as well from enjoyment. "Yeah. I do this a lot with my mom." He said and then picked up a turtle duckling to show it up close. "Do you wanna see it up close?" He asked showing her the little creature in his hand._

 _Lori looked up to it and looked into its beady little eyes. It quacked once, most likely asking for more bread bites. She out stretched her hand and Zuko placed it in her palms where the turtle duckling promptly sat down comfortably. Lori giggled at its comfiness. "They like little tiny penguins." She giggled, petting its tiny head before putting it back in the pond._

 _"Penguin?" Zuko asked. "Whats that?"_

 _Lori looked at him like he had just committed the worse sin in the world. "You no know Ottew Penguins?_ _They the bestes best best animal fwend in the wold. They go like this." She standing up and waddlign around and flapping and clapping her arms, imitating her favorite animal._

 _Zuko started laughing and stood up doing the exact same thing, clapping and barking like the otter penguin as Lori demonstrated. They soon stopped and were left laughing from their enjoyment. "Wow they're pretty great. Where are they?"  
_

 _Lori giggled. "They live in South Pole. I live on South Pole."_

 _"The South Pole. Thats far." Zuko said. "Whats it like?"_

 _Lori smiled. "It weally cold. And it snow a lot. But we have big wam coats."_

 _"Wow. I always wanted to see snow. It almost never snows in the Fire Nation." Zuko said and then jumped to his feet. "Hey wanna play a game."_

 _Lori stood up to her feet as well. "Game? What game?"_

 _Zuko walked up to her and motioned for her to get closer. Lori, now trusting Zuko with her life, got closer to him, believing he wanted to tell her a secret. When she finally got close enough Zuko struck patting her on the shoulder, and running as fast as possible._

 _"TAG!." He cheered and ran._

 _"HEY!" Lori cried but giggled. "That cheating!" She shouted and ran after him stilling laughing the entire time._

 _Ursa and Iroh had been watching since they started for the turtle duck pond. They laughed and drank tea as the two children continued to play and have fun. Iroh was glad Lori got along with Zuko quickly. he believed this was the start of a beautiful friendship._


	14. Mercy

_Three Days Ago._

Haru was grateful to have his father return to him and his mother. Him along with the rest of the men returning home raised the spirits of the people of their village. Thanks to Katara's roaring speech about hope helped the men find the courage to fight off the Fire Nation and drive them out of their home, hopefully for good. The village celebrated their return and victory over their enemy and had sworn to never surrender against their enemies again. Haru only wished that the Katara and the Avatar could have stayed for the celebrations. He knew they would have enjoyed it, but they had their own mission to accomplish. He just hoped they'd be able to finish their journey, and save their missing sister.

He knew, just as everyone knew, that there was still more to be done. The Fire Nation was still out there would try to return, but they weren't going to back down this time. This time, _they_ would be on the offensive and would drive the Fire Nation away from the land once and for all. But for now, they celebrated and rested. The war wasn't going anywhere.

Night had finally fallen and everyone had returned home. He had never seen his mother so happy to see his father return home and it was good to have him home again. His mother pleaded that they have a nice quiet family dinner, just the three of them. They couldn't say no to her. Haru had gone to the barn to fetch a bag flour that they had hidden from the Fire Nation for if they ever needed it. Tonight it would be used in their meal. Upon opening the barn door he saw a figure standing inside. It was too dark for him to see who it was.

"Hello?" He called but they figure didn't respond. "Who are you?" He asked again this time walking inside.

The figure remained motionless, not responding to his calls which really had him on edge. He got closer, with lantern in hand he raised to get a better view. The figure was a girl. Her slender frame gave it away. This made him blush a little. During the village wide celebration he had gotten the attention of one or two girls who had heard of his bravery in fighting off the Fire Nation and his part in liberating their fathers and/or brothers from the prison rig and how he was the one to cast the first stone which prompted all the other men to fight. They might or might not have wanted to marry him on the spot, but he relented, that they were still young and he was going to continue fighting in the war. Mostly he was just scared.

"Look I don't know who you are, but this isn't a good time. I'm with my family and-" He was went silent when the girl turned around, and through the lantern light he saw a familiar Water Tribe face. "-Katara?" He questioned in surprise.

She remained silent with a blank expression on her face. Then she smiled.

* * *

Haru had been gone for nearly twenty minutes. It shouldn't had taken him this long just to fetch a bag of flour and his mother began to worry. Tyro tried his best to assure his wife that he was fine, and that if he's brave enough to stand against Fire Benders, he was brave enough to fetch flour in the dark on his own.

"What if it's the Fire Nation!" She worried. "What if they've come back."

Tyro chuckled and put his hands on his wife's shoulders to reaffirm her. "It's not the Fire Nation. He's fine my dear. Perhaps he's busy with something else." He gave a hardy laugh.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

Tyro had a sly smirk on his bearded face. "I may or may not had seen him conversing with some lovely girls, and they may or may not have been taken by his bravery." He alluded much to the chagrin of his wife.

She beat him on the chest with much annoyance. "Don't talk like that. He may be a man now, but he's still my baby boy." She huffed. "If he has a lady friend, then maybe he should invite him to dinner. This is supposed to about being together again after all!" She demanded.

"Dear, let him be. He's young and and is about to fight in the war. Let him have a family return too."

"Tyro!" She shouted. "Go get our son! Now!" Tyro just laughed but did as his wife asked.

He took his time walking over to the barn, wanting for his son to enjoy himself with whatever lady friend he had accompanied him. He felt as though he deserved it after all he had been through, and all he had done in setting them free. He truly was a proud father, having raised a strong-willed son. Not unlike himself.

The barn was in sight now. He could see light peering through, meaning his son was still there. He slowed down his pace, not wanting to interrupt his son's moment. However his wife would be waiting for them and wouldn't be to happy if he took to long.

"Haru!" He called out loud enough to be sure he or they heard him and would finish up and make themselves decent. He still waited stood there and waited there to hear any kind of response. If he simply replied with an, _I'll be there soon_ , he'd be satisfied and walk away.

"Son, you mother sent me to fetch you. She worried because you should have returned by now." He called out once again but still there was no reply. Most likely he was deep in whatever he activity he was occupying himself. What kind of father would he be if he didn't embarrass his son. He walked up to the door and gave one hard knock to indicate that he was in fact walking in. Upon walking in and seeing his son, he composure completely fell and it shook him to his very core.

"Haru!" He cried.

His son was standing on his knees, his tied behind his back and a noose tied around his neck which was the only thing that kept him sitting up. His shirt had been torn off with clear evidence that he had been beaten and tortured. The light from the lantern showed the immense pain his son was in. His torturer still hadn't faced him. They wore black clothes, but he didn't need to find the red to know that this was the work of the Fire Nation. Tyro got into a fighting stance ready to avenge his son.

"Turn around coward! How dare you return here!" He demanded with an anger he never experienced before, not even when he was first ripped away from his family. However when said, "coward" had turned to face him, it stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Katara?" He questioned just as his son did. He looked to her, then to his beaten son and back to her again. "You did this!?"

She smiled. "Guess again." She said in a cold voice as the doors behind Tyro were slammed shut. There behind him stood Prince Zuko as calm and collected as ever. He should be. He held every advantage in his hand at this very moment.

"Your son hasn't been very cooperative. Maybe you might be different." Zuko said in a cool voice.

Tyro once again took an Earth Bending stance ready to fight him. Zuko remained in a calm manner, leaning against the wall in a relaxed position. He didn't even move an inch. "Let my son go, and leave our home at once!" He demanded, using Earth Bending to lifting stones into the air and turning them into spikes aimed at the Prince's head. Zuko still didn't react, completely calm.

"I would drop those if I were you." He warned.

"Why would I!?"

"Because you wouldn't want anything to happen to your dear son would you?" He heard the cold voice from behind him. That voice wasn't Katara. He turned back to his son's torturer, only now did he realize that it wasn't her at all. It must've been her sister. She raised the lantern to reveal an Ostrich Horse with a rope tied to its bridle. Tyro followed the rope up to the ceiling where it hung on a pulley and lead to the noose around Haru's neck. Just a single slap to the animals side is all it would take to kill his son.

"You take a guess." Lori said with a cocky smirk as she gently brushed the animals beak.

Tyro's blood boiled inside. He thought they had driven off the Fire Nation out of their village, but here they were once again, and threatening his son's life. He was wanted to retaliate, he wanted to fight them and save his son. He turned back to Zuko. "Tell her to leave my son be. Your quarrel is with me!" He demanded.

"Don't look at me. This was her idea." Zuko said. "Personally I thought the noose was overkill." He added.

His calm demeanor and the state of his son, enraged Tyro to know end. He kept looking between the Prince and Lori unsure as to what to do. He couldn't fight them, not without risking his son's life. He finally submitted and dropped the spiked stones to the ground. He had never felt so defeated. He looked to the Prince who now looked at him smugly.

"What do you want?"

Zuko finally pushed himself off the wall. "The Avatar helped you escape the prison rig. Where did he go?"

"I don't know what your talking about." Tyro bluffed. He flinched when he heard a pained cry come from his son. He turned around to see Lori drive a hard blow to his already bruised abdomen. Most likely where she had broken a rib. His sons cries tore at his heart.

"Your really gonna trying pulling that! Who else looks like me and is named Katara!?" She mocked and punched Haru again. He cried in pain again.

"Where did the Avatar go!?" Zuko asked him again.

"Don't tell them anything dad!" Haru shouted and cried out in pain again as Lori used one of her throwing knives to slice into his flesh.

"I'm sorry did we ask you." Lori said coldly. As she stuck the knife into his back. He cried out even louder.

"Stop please!" Tyro pleaded as he got to his knees.

Zuko walked over to him, now standing over him. "Once again, where is the Avatar?"

Tyro was silent. How could he betray the Avatar after everything they had done for him and his family, his whole village. They had risked their lives to save them, and he was just going to betray them like this. It wasn't right to do so.

"I'm not hearing an answer." Lori warned as she cut into Haru again. This time leaving a long bleeding scar along his cheek. "Tell us where the Avatar is!" She warned.

* * *

 _Present Time_

It had been three days since they interrogated the Earth Benders on the whereabouts of the Avatar. They were told that they were heading north, toward a trading port where they could resupply and continue on with their journey. After that, they weren't to sure. So far they hadn't found any sign of the Avatar or his whereabouts. They spent the last few days, all day searching throughout the port, but they turned up empty handed. Not even Lori's late night investigation lead to any new leads. Everyone was exhausted from their search, but still the search continued.

A group of soldiers had moved some practice dummies onto the main deck, as per Lori's request. Zuko and Lieutenant Jee were on the bridge plotting out their next course of action. She figured might as well put in some training while they were waiting. The men placed down the last dummy on the deck.

"Thank you gentlemen. That'll be all." She said and dismissed the soldiers who walked off back into the ship.

Lori walked to the center of her makeshift training space with three dummies around her and three targets off to the side. She took her swords and began her katas to begin her practice. She slowly, gently waved her swords back and forth, side to side, getting into the flow of the movements she was familiar with after training for so many years. After a few more katas she quick struck one dummy, slashing it across the neck area followed by thrusting her sword into the second dummy in the abdomen. With her sword stuck in the dummy she quickly turned around and shot a knife from her gauntlet at the third dummy, striking it in the head. Three targets down in under five seconds.

She continued practicing her technique until the quick and fluid motions and strikes were happening before they came to mind. In a real life or death battle, she had to be quick on her feet an even quicker with her blades. She did another form, turning around slashing both her swords across the abdomen of one dummy, coming back around for another double slash on the second dummy across the abdomen and then fully spinning around for a cross slash on the thirds neck area. She breathed heavily from the excessive workout, but she need to work harder. She needed to be stronger and faster if they were to capture the Avatar.

She sheathed her swords and pulled her crossbow, readying for some archery. The targets were fifteen yards away, not a very had target to hit if it wasn't for the fact that the ship was still moving adding to the challenge. With a long draw of her breath she pulled the trigger and fired the bolt striking the first target an two and a quarter inches to the left of the target. She loaded another bolt and fired again, the second bolt landing only a centimeter from the first. She repeated the process with similar results. No bullseyes, but her grouping was near perfect.

"Most impressive." She heard her elder comment from behind as he approached. "It seems as though you are improving everyday." He encouraged.

Lori sighed and loaded another bolt into her cross bow. "Not enough to capture the Avatar." She said flatly as she took aim once again.

"It is not your fault my dear. No one has faced an Air Bender in one hundred years. Of course it would be difficult, and I don't imagine it would be any easier knowing that your brother and sis-"

Lori fired a shot which seemed to interrupt Iroh's speech. The bolt flew through air and hit the second target an inch and a half to the right of the bullseye. Lori grumbled. "I don't care about my brother, and especially not my sister!" She stated angrily. She loaded another bolt more aggressively this time. He could see the bitter look on her face at the mention of her family, nearly spatting at the mention of her sister. Lori took aim and once again fired, getting closer to the bullseye this time, only a quarter of an inch to the right. She had becoming a talented archer after many years of training.

Iroh gave a sigh. "I know you don't care for them, but you shouldn't strain yourself to much on one thing. Especially something like this. It will eat away at your resolve if you allow it."

"I don't care about my resolve uncle." She said as she loaded another bolt and took aim. "The only thing that matters is capturing the Avatar. Once we do that, we all go back to the Fire Nation, Zuko is welcomed back, his honor is restored and he will be. And if he's happy, everyone's happy." She said and fired another bolt.

"Please tell me Lori, you mention my nephews happiness, but what about your happiness." Iroh asked. He could see the moment of hesitation after he asked. After a minute of deliberating she finally fired, the bolt landing a perfect bullseye on the third target.

She lowered her crossbow, stopping for a moment for her response to her elders question. "I just want Zuko to be happy." She said genuinely.

* * *

A few hours later Lori and Zuko, along with two other guards were walking around the port, once again looking for any clues on the whereabouts of the Avatar. It was made much more difficult with the Fire Nation presence already here, which meant they had to stay on there toes They had searched for more then an hour, but no one seemed to had spotted the air bender, or at least they just weren't being cooperative. There was a cabbage merchant who especially got testy with them which Lori did not like. She nearly beat him for talking back at them but Zuko prevented her from doing so. She settled for throwing the fool into his cabbage cart which then rolled down a walkway and crashed.

They had both split up to speak with two neighboring merchants just to save time. Zuko walked into a small weapons shop where a middle aged man was examining a ceremonial sword for any flaws. Upon seeing the young prince he quickly returned to the counter. "How may I help you. Perhaps you would like something special?"

Zuko walked up to the counter and got straight to the point. "I'm searching for someone. He may have passed through here." He said with a straight face.

"Well, a lot of people come through here I'm afraid." The man said and returned to his job as a merchant. Recognizing Zuko's royal armor, he wasn't willing to pass up on this opportunity. "Would you like to see some of my merchandise? Perhaps a sword? You seem like a Dadao kind of man."

"No." Zuko said flatly. And he most certainly wasn't a Dadao man. "This person wouldn't be someone you'd miss. He's a bald monk with arrow tattoos. He's also accompanied by two water tribe teenagers."

The merchant rubbed his chin for moment. "I'm sorry I'm afraid I haven't seen anyone monks or anyone one water tribe. Aside from your lady friend over there." He pointed at toward outside. Zuko turned to see Lori speaking to a produce vendor just across the street. He sighed as he saw her bite down on a moon peach.

Lori turned his way and saw him in the shop, arms crossed and staring at her and shaking his head in disbelief. She looked him dead in the eye and took another defiant bite out of her moon peach before turning back to the vendor. Zuko turned back to the merchant. He was especially more irritated now considering this meant he now had to buy a box of moon peaches for her. He rubbed his nose trying to calm himself down. Of course she would all of a sudden get distracted by the prospect of moon peaches.

"Is there anything else sir?" The merchant asked, lifting a silver, jewel encrusted dagger with a blue sapphire on its hilt. "Could I interest you in this lovely piece? Perhaps for your girlfriend there?"

Zuko's eyes went wide at the merchant's question. Especially at referring Lori, his bodyguard and oldest, childhood friend as his girlfriend. He started sputtering out words, trying to form any words that made sense. His face heated up from the thought. Lori. Being his girlfriend. Absurd.

"Wh, what! NO! No! She's not-" He sputtered out loud. "She, she's not my girlfriend! She, she..." He turned back outside to see Lori still at the fruit vendor. It didn't make any sense for them to be together. He turned back to the merchant.

"It doesn't matter! This place is a waste of time anyways!" Zuko snapped back at the merchant before storming out.

* * *

When Zuko suggested that they split up to cover more ground, Lori nearly immediately asked him to reconsider. Not because it was a bad idea, but because she had a bad feeling about this place. Like they were unwelcome here, and not just because they flew Fire Nation colors. However who was she to argue when it came to a chance of finding the Avatar. And so here she was, waiting on a woman who ran the produce stand across from the weapons shop that Zuko walked into. She finally put down a crate of apples at the prospect of a customer.

"Hello there. How can I help you?" She asked. She lifted up a bundle of banana's. "Could I interest you in some ripe produce."

"No. I'm looking for information." She said flatly, not unlike her Prince. "I'm looking for some persons of interest." She asked straight to the point.

"How about a mango?" She said, lifting a small sack of mango in hand.

"No. Three people were spotted coming through here." She continued.

"Would you like to try one of my oranges?"

"No!"

"Papaya?"

"No!" Lori was getting more irritated by the second. "A bald monk and two water tribe teenagers came through here!"

"Moon Peach?" She offered said fruit.

After a second of deliberating she took the offered and took a bite. It was good. She rarely ever had a moon peach that wasn't good. She turned around to scope the immediate area when she saw Zuko across the way, staring at her with his arms crossed and shaking his head in disbelief. She just narrowed her gaze, looked him dead in the eye and took another bite of her moon peach. She'd been working hard all day and she deserved this. She turned back to the merchant who now had hopeful eyes.

"I would like a crate of your ripest Moon peaches is." She said which brought a great smile to the woman.

"Oh, thank you." She said as she wen behind a wagon and pulled a crate of moon peaches. Lori told the guard to take the crate of moon peaches back to the ship and make sure that no one had access to them except her. She wasn't going to let anyone near her precious moon peaches.

"Thank you very much. And could I also interest you in perhaps a some spirits to go along with that?" The woman pulled a bottle from beneath another crate in the wagon.

"I don't think-" She tried to get through to the woman but she was already in the zone. She placed down a wheel of cheese wrapped in paper.

"How about a bottle, and two wheels of cheese for the price of one." She offered holding one of the unwrapped cheese wheels in her hand to show how appetizing it seemed. "I'm sure these all, along with a basket and a blanket-"

The woman continued as though she were planning a special occasion. Lori tried stopping her but she just wouldn't listen. She really just needed information on the Avatar, but this lady was becoming more of a hassle then she originally thought. "I have a cousin who has a stall just up the road. If you mention my name, she give you a deal on a beautiful blanket and a lovely basket."

"Um, what for?" Lori asked. taking another bite of her moon peach.

"Why, for a romantic picnic of course. Just imagine you and your boyfriend. Spirits and cheese on a blanket on while watching the sunset."

Lori's eyes went wide and she froze at the word. _Boyfriend_. She stopped mid chew. "Uh um, boyfriend? What do you mean?"

"Your boyfriend. That handsome young man in the weapon stall over there."

Lori choked on her moon peach at the woman's words. She was talking about Zuko. Of course she was talking about him. But why did she assume he was her boyfriend. Zuko? Her boyfriend? No. That was crazy. Her cheeks began to heat up, her face was bright red at the thought.

"No. No no no. He's, he's not my boyfriend." She said flustered and started rambling, trying to purge the notion from her mind. "No don't be ridiculous. He's not my boyfriend. I'm not his girlfriend."

The woman was a little taken aback by her response. The two were obviously together and they seemed pretty close.

"Oh I'm sorry. A handsome young man like him, and a lovely young woman like yourself, I'd assumed you two were-"

"We're not! Okay!" Lori snapped quickly, wanting this conversation to end as quickly as possible. "It's nothing like that! Now, a bald monk with arrow tattoos and two water tribe teenagers-"

* * *

They regrouped later further down the street, both wanting to get as far away from the stall and shop as possible. Neither of them said anything, both still rather in shock and with red faces from the conversations they just had with completely strangers.

They finally stopped at a crossways where wagons and carts could travel through the port with ease and stopped by a small fountain. Still one said anything. They could barely even look at each other without blushing, the words still fresh in their minds. _Girlfriend?_ _Boyfriend?_ They both kept their eyes to the ground, knowing full well if they looked at each other, the other would see their faces. It was the most awkward they ever felt with the other.

"So." Lori was the first to break the silence.

"So." Zuko replied. They still refused to look at each other.

"Anything?" Lori asked.

"No luck. However he did have some nice merchandise." Zuko said and quickly felt the heat return to his face. The vendor holding the beautiful looking dagger in his hands. Almost a beautiful as her. He flinched at the thought. He shouldn't be thinking like that. He should never think like that. They grew up together. She was like a sister to him. She was family. Most of all she was her best friend. He couldn't think like that. "You?"

"Well, Would two wheels of cheese for the price of one sound like a promising lead?" She asked, still imagining the two of them dating. It was a crazy thought. Sure Zuko was handsome, she always thought that but, it didn't mean anything. Why would they go on a romantic picnic anyway? Sure they may have had a picnic or two when they were younger back in the Royal gardens of the Royal Palace in the Fire Nation when they were younger. But those were under adult supervision. And they were never romantic, or at least never supposed to be. They were friends, they were always together. So how was having a picnic any different.

"Did it look good?" He asked.

"Maybe."

"No." Zuko said flatly.

"Well." She finally found the courage to look at him. At least for something like this. "I might have something." She said and gestured to walk across the street toward an alleyway.

They crossed the street just in time as a crowd and a couple wagons passed by to mask their view sight. Before they entered the alleyway, Lori shoved Zuko into a small booth, shocking her Prince.

"Lori! What are you-" He tried to say but was silent at feeling her hand against his chest. He looked into her blue eyes, and the slight parting of her lips. His eyes never moved from hers, nor hers from his. He didn't know what she was planning, but it sure made him nervous. She began to get close their distance, her face getting closer and closer with each passing second. _Is she gonna kiss me!?_

Lori closed their distance the already tight space between them. This booth was small and not at all ideal, but it was the only way she could do this. She closed in on him, her lips reaching passed his and to his scarred ear.

"We're being followed." She said quietly. Zuko's eyes went wide, only now for a different reason.

Lori back away to give him enough room for him to see for himself through the little window cut into the booth. He peered through seeing through the passing crowd and sign of their tail. he couldn't really see much through the crowd, but maybe that was the idea. If they couldn't see him, then he couldn't see him. He was never good at this game.

"I don't see him."

"Her." She corrected, much to the surprise to Zuko. A woman tailing them. He most certainly wouldn't expect that. "By the flower stall. Five foot, four. Plain green robes, short-sleeved. Brown sash. Brown vest. Slight scaring on the the right forearm."

After a quick survey of the area he found the aforementioned flower stall. There he saw a young woman, matching her description. "Floral hairpin, brown shoes." he followed the train of thought and then saw something that really peaked his interest.

"Golden ring." Lori caught it. The woman wore a golden ring on her right index finger. The quality, the craftsmanship was unmistakably Fire Nation. The flames engraved along the ring was undeniable. Those rings were only given to officers, or to special operatives. She had one. She just didn't wear it all that much. And it wasn't something you could just find in a pawn shop.

"Thats her alright." Zuko said.

His suspicion to be confirmed when she looked there way and seemed concerned. Most likely because she couldn't find her targets. It would be easy to lose her, however as mentioned, it would be too easy. And she would get off scot free. That wouldn't do. The crowd was beginning to clear but there was a large wagon passing by. As well as the fact that their tail couldn't give herself away by acting too fast.

"Five minutes?" Zuko asked.

"Seven at most."

"Plenty of time."

* * *

The large crowd finally dispersed allowing her to finally get a glimpse of her targets that had halted in the alley. However once the last wagon past, they were no where insight. She felt a sudden an wave of dread. She lost them, she couldn't lose them now. When she thought she was in the clear she sauntered over toward the alleyway where the banished Prince and his bodyguard disappeared too.

She walked deeper into the alley but still couldn't find any sign of them. If there was a chance she was compromised then she had to act quickly, so far she had nothing to report back to her officer. Nothing substantial at least. Fire Nation did a good job at suppressing the news of the Avatar passing through this town the day before, and it seemed as though the Prince and his lapdog did the same in not mentioning the Avatar by name. Or title.

She came to an intersection where the road split into four different ways. The docks, the Naval base, the market on the harbor, and the pier where the cafe was. There was also back to the market where she came from, but there was no way that could've gotten passed her. Unless.

She suddenly felt a tightening around her ankles and found herself hitting the ground. The back of her head throbbed in pain as she was suddenly pulled into the air and hung upside down, slowly rotating from whatever held her.

"Whats going on here!? Please, can someone help me!?" She tried calling out, and continued spinning around until she came face to face with the banished Prince. "Can you please help me?"

Zuko remained silent with his arms crossed and with a scowl. He most definitely wasn't happy with her. "What do you think your doing!?" He demanded.

She tried playing dumb. "What? I, I don't now what your talking!" She wasn't selected for this assignment just because she was persistent and could blend into crowds easily. She was also good at talking her way out of a situations like these. "Please I'm confused. I, I was just making my way to meet my mother." She was slowly rotating and then came face to face with the bodyguard.

"Is that so?" Lori asked. She grabbed the girls right hand and took the Fire Nation ring off. "So what about this?"

Lori held the ring to her face so she had a clear view of the ring. "That's my fathers. He gave it to me before he passed."

"... is that so." Lori tossed the ring in the air and snatched it in the air.

"Those rings are given to Fire Nation officers. Or special operatives." Zuko said.

"My father was an officer." She explained.

"The Fire Nation wouldn't just give this to you." Lori said.

"Those rings are sent to the Fire Sages." Zuko said. "So I ask again, Who are you? And why have you been following us?"

The girl swallowed. "I, I don't know what your talking about." She stated, acting as though she was afraid. Or maybe she was starting to get scared.

Lori and Zuko shared a look and nodded. Zuko stuffed a rag in her mouth while Lori grabbed her right hand and broke her thumb. She screamed from the sudden pain, but her screams were muffled by Zuko's rag. Once she calmed down Zuko removed the rag, but kept it close by just in case.

"Once again. Why are you following us?" Zuko demanded. The girl opened her mouth, but held back any kind of response. She felt Lori grab hold of another one of her fingers.

"If you lie to us again, I'll brake another finger." Lori threatened.

The girl was panting heavily from the pain. She took a deep breath and spoke again. "I don't know what your talking about."

Zuko once again stuffed the rag in her mouth and Lori broke her index finger. She screamed once again, and once again her screams were muffled by the rag in her mouth. She couldn't handle this. She was never trained for these kind of situations. She was just a spy. An observer who stayed in the background. She didn't deserve this kind of treatment.

"Anything you want to share!?" Zuko asked again, but still she refused to speak. She wanted to scream or cry out for help, but nothing came out clear. The rag that was stuffed in her mouth, made it nearly impossible to make any sound.

"I guess not." Lori said and broke her middle finger. She started writhing around from her dangling position wanting to get as far from this place as possible. This wasn't supposed to be a dangerous job. Something like this was never supposed to happen. Lori pulled one of her daggers and placed it on her neck

"I guess if your have nothing to say, then your of no use to us." Lori threatened.

They gave her a moment to consider her options, of which she only had so many. Tell them the truth or die. She had heard of Lori. She would most definitely kill her and leave her here for the Fire Nation to find her. She shook her head like crazy pleading with them to give her a chance.

Zuko questioned her one last time. If she refused then it was out of his hands. "Well? Are you going to cooperate? Or are we done here?"

Lori broke her ring finger. She screamed louder and tears started running down her face. She nodded like crazy wanting for the pain to be over with. She couldn't take it anymore. Zuko pulled the rag and Lori pulled away, but kept her dagger to her throat.

"So then." Lori said. "Why were you following us?"

The girl looked to Lori who had a cold and merciless look in her eye. If she tried to scream, she would slash her throat she even made a sound. She could feel the blade of the dagger itching to cut through her artery. She took a deep breath and finally spoke.

"I was tasked by Commander Zhao to watch over you." She said with tears continuing to go down her face, knowing full well that she would be punished for betraying the Commander, but she had no choice. They would have killed her. But she knew that Zhao wouldn't care.

"Zhao! He's here!?" Zuko nearly shouted grabbing her by the shoulders. She could begin to feel his fingers digging into her skin heat up with fire bending. "What does he know!? What did he tell you!?"

"Nothing! I was supposed to make sure you knew nothing of the Avatar's passing through here, and to report any new information that you might have come by."

Lori looked at her with a look of disgust in her eyes. "You slithering bitch!" Lori said. "Your were spying on us, for Zhao!?"

"I had my orders okay." She made her plea. She saw them when they regrouped after the left the stalls, how they were flustered and could barely even look at each other. It was rather cut to be honest. Those people no longer existed. She spun back around once again facing Zuko.

"I'm giving you this one chance. Tell us where the Avatar is, or I leave you here with Lori for half an hour. And you don't want me doing that."

She swallowed hard. She didn't even want to be around Lori for another second. "He did come through here. But Zhao's men were too late to capture him. He's been trying to keep it under wraps, to avoid embarrassment."

"Where is he going!?" Zuko demanded.

"North! He's heading North!" She said to them. Hoping this would be the end of it.

Zuko took a step back and motioned for Lori to let her go. Lori stepped back and cut the rope that hung the girl upside down and she crashed to the ground. She proceeded to curl into a ball and whimper. Zuko turned around and was ready to head back to his ship. He had a plot to course and needed to move as fast as possible.

"I'll meet you back at the ship." Zuko called behind him as he walked deeper into the alley, taking the road toward the docks. "I suggest you run and get out of town."

The girl was left confused by the statement. She was about to ask why when Lori yanked on her hair and slammed her face against the ground. She felt heavy knee slam into her back and then felt her right arm get pulled to the side. Her fingers were all broken, all but her pinky finger. She tried to pull her hand back to spare her last working finger, but Lori was stronger, too strong for her. She didn't want to experience the pain of another broken finger again, she couldn't take it. Lori once again stuffed the rag into her mouth.

"This is gonna hurt." She stated flatly. She embraced herself for the pain of her finger breaking, but it didn't happen. It was much worse. Lori slammed her dagger onto her pinky finger, slicing it clean off. The screamed in agonizing pain from the terrible terrible pain. She looked at her hand and saw blood coming from where a finger should've been.

Lori got off her and got back to her feet, watching her curl up in unimaginable pain. Except she can imagine it pretty well. She thought she looked pathetic, the way she cried and writhed on the floor in pain. She started walking away, leaving the girl, but taking her ring and her finger.


	15. The Invitation

Zhao had successfully captured yet another Earth Kingdom settlement. This town held a strategic port once under the command of the Earth Kingdom army, critical for resupplying and refueling between bases, but now it belonged to him. Yet another great day for the Fire Nation. He was expecting a celebratory gala in his honor, to which he was looking forward to attending. He was especially proud of how well they managed to suppress word of the Avatar coming through here, especially since Zuko had arrived, but he was sure his spy would keep in the dark.

"Commander Zhao." A soldier said as he entered his office. "A package arrived for you sir." He said as the soldier placed the a neatly ornate box on his desk.

Zhao looked at the parcel and smirked, believing that it was a gift for his good work. "Thank you. Your dismissed." he said as he took the parcel in his hands. The soldier bowed and motioned to walk out of his office.

"Soldier!" Zhao called out. He turned to face the Commander. "Any word on our agent spying on the traitorous prince?"

"Nothing yet sir." He responded.

"Keep me posted." Zhao said.

Zhao took the small message marked with a royal Fire Nation seal and tied to the box with a red ribbon.

 _In honor of your exceptional work and what you've accomplished for the glory of the Fire Nation. Doing your duty to your nation and fulfilling the mission of spreading the prosperity of our glorious nation to the world. We reward you for your excellence and look forward to seeing your progress throughout this_ _campaign. Glory to the Fire Nation._

Zhao's smirk grew. "About time all my hard work was noticed." He said to himself.

He set aside the note, and set his eyes on the box in front of him. The excitement of what prize or award was in the box was at its peak. He finally opened the box and looked inside. He nearly cried out as he shoved the box away from him and jumped out of his seat, nearly knocking it over in the process. Inside the box was a bloody golden ring and a severed finger. The sight of the finger disgusted him, and the ring sent waves down his back. He knew who the ring belonged to. It belonged to Fan, the daughter General Shinu, and his own spy who he might or might not have been having a secret affair with.

He slammed his fist onto his desk, just as the guard from before and another guard stormed into his office. "Commander Zhao, whats wrong! We heard you shouting!" One of the guards asked. He turned the men pointing at the box still sitting on his desk. The two guards peered into the box and jumped back, revolted by the sight.

"Who delivered this!?" He demanded an answer. Neither man could come up with a reasonable answer. At least not one that would satisfy the angered Commander.

"We're, we're not sure sir. It just arrived by one of our messengers."

"And why did no one make sure this was properly checked!?" Zhao asked.

"We were told to deliver it to you immediately." The other guard answered. "We were told it came through proper channels."

"Who told you this!?"

The two guards looked at each other. "We're, we're not sure."

Zhao slammed his fist into hid desk again knocking over the lantern on his desk. "Then find out who!" He ordered. "And someone find Fan! She was due to report hours ago!" He ordered and the two guards bowed and ran off immediately.

He sat back in his chair, scratching his chin and contemplating his next move. He just lost his best spy, (and lover in recent time). Not only was Prince Zuko approaching soon, but now he had no tail on him. There was already rumors of his love affair with General Shinu's daughter within his own command, but if word reached the General, the scandal would ruin his career. Right now he just had to take things one at a time. He had his gala coming soon and he had appearances to maintain. Once the celebration was concluded, he would work on finding Fan and when he was done with her, he would have her wishing she never jumped into bed with him in an act of rebellion against her father.

He looked into the box once again and starred at the severed finger. It starred back, mocking him. The severed appendage was the trademark of one individual. The Red Wraith, the personal assassin of the Blue Spirit, the scourge of the Fire Nation. Those two had been a thorn at his side for many years, but they were getting closer now. He had already lost a few men to them, and now he had just lost his spy. It seemed as though their fated meeting was approaching soon.

In his fit of rage he didn't realize that he had knocked over the candle on his desk, until it the message caught on fire. He quickly beat the fire away as the note was evidence in the investigation that was soon to be underway, but he already had a suspects in mind. However upon extinguishing the flames, he came upon another message, hidden in the parchment until now. The flames seemed to fade the rest of the words away leaving behind its true meaning. It's eerie warning, further cemented his suspicions.

 _What Do You See_

Zhao clenched his fist after reading, re-reading and re-reading the warning again. They were mocking him. They believed they were capable of getting to him. Maybe they could. Maybe they were lurking in the dark, hiding, waiting. Perhaps they were in the shadows, waiting for to turn his cheek. He nearly jumped when another soldier walked into the office.

"Commander Zhao."

"WHAT!" Zhao shouted.

"Prince Zuko has just arrived at the harbor sir." The soldier said.

Zhao slammed his fist into his desk once again. First his spy is missing, then the Fire Nation scourge, and now the banished Prince. And he thought things were bad before.

* * *

That last town was yet another dead end. They searched all over the small village that the spy told them about, but still, the Avatar was long gone before they even arrived. Lori really wanted to go back and track down that spy for her deception and make her pay. Odds are she really didn't lie to them, but she just wanted to hurt someone. And her Prince had forbade her from just hurting the crew just because she was upset years ago. Sometimes she wondered if he even cared about her at all. At least they managed to pick up a trail and now knew where the Avatar was headed. The only problem was, it was further inland, into Earth Kingdom lands. And the fact that Iroh had gone into town.

"I hate this." She said to her Prince.

"So do I." Zuko replied.

"I'm getting antsy." She said popping the joints in her fingers.

"So am I." Zuko said, beating his fingers on the railing of the ship as he watched his men and uncle par ruse through the markets. They've been here for hours and the retired general had yet to be persuaded in leaving and continuing their search.

"I swear if we're here any longer, I'm just gonna scream." She said alluring to wanting to leave or do something in anyway entertaining.

"I'm sure you will." Zuko said flatly.

They remained silent for possibly ten minutes watching the people walking by and going on with their daily routines and mundane lives. At some point some of the crew had returned with some merchandise that Iroh had purchased. Because they just needed more garbage to haul around.

At some point Lori looked to her Prince standing next to her. She didn't say anything for a second and just held an annoyed expression on her face. "Do you even give a shit about me?" She asked which took Zuko off guard.

"What!"

"I'm getting antsy, I need _something_ to do and you won't let me."

Zuko turned around and motioned for going inside to the bridge to plot a course so that they could leave as soon as Iroh returned. Of course Lori followed him. "I'm not gonna let you beat up our crew."

Lori threw back her head and whined like an upset child. "Why nooooooot?"

"Because four crew members quit with broken arms and ribs three months when we first started this hunt. We can only bring in so many crew members that would be wiling to join us."

"I'm weeding out the weaklings." She argued.

"If only your methods didn't involve breaking bones."

"So what your saying is you don't care bout me."

Zuko groaned in annoyance. "Of course not. Of course I care about you."

They both turned around when they heard the chuckles of their elder who had finally returned from his shopping escapades. "Well I am glad you are finally opening up about your feelings nephew." Iroh said as the other men walked passed him, arms filled with goods that the General had purchased. And for another surprise, Su had come up behind him as well, and wearing a new dress.

Both their faces, mostly Zuko's, turned red at Iroh's accusations. "What! No! Thats, thats not what I meant. I, I was just talking about her well being, is all."

Iroh laughed some more and approached them closer. "I know you mean well Prince Zuko. You two always looked after one another, even when you were children. Why mix things up now."

Lori grunted loudly to silence the two. "Uncle please stop. And why is Su with you, and with a new dress?"

Iroh looked behind him to see his friend who was currently avoiding her gaze from the two teens. "She had been cramped in her room for the past few days. I thought she would enjoy some fresh air." He gestured for her to go into the ship. "I will be with you shortly dear." He said as she walked past him and the two teens, once again keeping her head down and avoiding their gaze.

"Well now thats out of the way could we please get going!" Zuko asked.

Iroh laughed once again. "Why the rush Prince Zuko. Life is always fleeing. Why not enjoy it with those closest to you."

Zuko rubbed his nose in an annoyed manner. "Uncle, I'm sure we'll be able to enjoy life once we capture the Avatar and head back to the Fire Nation."

"Ah, but until then, we should enjoy the time we have together. Doesn't that sound nice Lori?" He asked.

Lori gave a strained smile. "Of course uncle. But I'd be much happier if we were on the move again." She put her hands together and smiled sweetly to her elder. "After all, don't you want your favorite niece to be happy?"

Iroh gave a laugh. "Oh of course I do dear. That is why I plan on searching this entire market place until I find something special just for you." Iroh said before walking off.

Lori's face dropped to very annoyed. As a soldier was walking past them, she grabbed his helmet and proceeded to scream into it before throwing it in a a random direction which ended up hitting Three-Finger-Fin in the back of the head with an audible clank.

"OW WHY!" He called out.

"Thanks Lau. I needed that." Lori said to the soldier whose helmet she just stole. He just nodded and continued moving. Zuko just starred at her in disbelief.

"You are unbelievable." He said disapprovingly. Lori retaliated by sticking her tongue out at him. "Classy." He said flatly as he walked back inside, heading into the bridge.

Before Lori could follow Three-Finger-Fin approached her holding the helmet in his hand and rubbing the back of his head. Most likely where he was hit. "Hey boss." He said. She didn't answer. She just kept her arms crossed and starred at him with a blank expression.

"Yeah, so. You kinda threw this at me." He explained. Lori blinked. "Annnnnnd you don't care. Sweet. Good talk boss." he said and finally walked off.

Lori sighed. "I hate this ship." She said to herself before entering the inner parts of the ship to follow where her Prince was.

* * *

They were all in the bridged of the ship. Zuko was with Lieutenant Jee currently plotting a course while Lori was watching Iroh play Pai Sho with Wong The Helmsman. For the past half hour it seemed it was anyones game, but she knew all too well that the helmsman had no chance. She too had fallen victim to her uncle's cruel strategies. After all, Pai Sho was like war. And war is hell.

The sound of the door opening took Lori's immediate attention. Su walked in with a trey carrying a pot of hot tea and several small cups and a platter of moon peaches. Lori kept her eyes on her the entire trip, as she shut the door behind her and walked over to their table. Or maybe she was just eyeing the moon peaches.

"Excuse me general, would you like some Jasmine Tea?" She asked softly, placing the trey down. Iroh smiled.

"Of course dear. That sounds delightful." He said happily.

Su gave a nod and proceeded in serving a of cup tea for the retired General. In the short time she was here, she had really warmed up to the kind old man. As she was thinking about two certain teens who would remain nameless, she accidentally slipped and burned herself with the hot tea, spilling the cup over, and ruined their game. She gave a quiet curse. Her curse wasn't as quiet as she thought for the whole room turned to face her. Su's face turned red from the embarrassment. She was certain that Lori would be angry with her. When she finally looked up to brace the young teens wrath, she was some what surprised to see her seemingly just mildly, inconvenienced.

"I am so sorry General." She apologized with a bow. "Please forgive me, I didn't mean to..."

Iroh gave her a supporting hand on her shoulder. "It's quite alright dear. It was just a small accident, no need to worry." He said with a smile. "Besides, now that the games is ruined, we cane just start a new one. And maybe this time, my opponent will have a better chance." He said with a laugh.

Wong scratched his chin before asking Lori. "Wait. So I was getting my butt kicked the whole time?" Lori nodded. "Damn it."

Su served Iroh a cup of tea, who took it gratefully and then turned to the other two present. "Would either of you like a cup of tea as well?" She asked.

"I'd appreciate a cup little lady." Wong said with a smile.

As Su was serving the cup for the Helmsman, she looked to Lori who hadn't said anything yet. "Would you like a cup as well Lori?" She asked almost cautiously.

Lori said nothing, but simply nodded in the affirmative. Su gave a small hopeful smile that this meant that they could be on good terms again. As Su was pouring the tea for Lori, it was then that Iroh noticed her deformity. One that he hadn't seen before.

"Miss Su, what happened to your finger?" He asked. There was an audible clatter when he asked the question.

"I'm sorry General?" She feigned ignorance.

"Your small finger?" He pointed out.

Su looked at her finger. Or more like the gap where her finger used to be. How could she forget. She got quiet the beating right before it was cut off. "Oh this." She gave a quick glance to Lori who seemed almost nervous. Almost. "I accidentally cut it pretty badly. While, I was cutting vegetables for a stew. I had no choice but to lose it."

Iroh looked at her suspiciously and then to the wounded part of her hand. He was all too familiar with this kind of work, but he continued to play her game. "Are you sure? The cook is not mistreating you, is he?" He asked.

"Oh no, of course not. The Chief is nothing but a gentleman. So long as I do everything he says, or, you know, stay out of the kitchen all together. This was just an accident, nothing more." Su was quick defend her claim. And she most definitely didn't want to put the blame on an innocent.

Iroh eyed for a moment further, and then gave a sigh. "Alright then. I just ask you be more careful dear."

Su gave a bow and a warm smile. "Yes General, and thank you for your concern."

She continued pouring tea and then offered tea to Jee and Prince Zuko. Jee was delighted but Prince Zuko didn't really care for tea much to the annoyance of the retired General. The two had a small but harmless spat of the importance of drinking tea and how it could lead to making great decisions. Zuko was very much annoyed from his uncle's incessant arguments for tea.

"I don't need tea to help me make decisions uncle." Zuko remarked.

"Of course you do. You need a calm mind when making important decisions, and nothing calms the mind quite like tea." He took a swig from his tea. "Lori agrees with me."

Lori drank from her cup. "I'm not getting involved."

Zuko took that as a win. "Ha! See not everyone agrees with your ramblings about the philosophical aspects of drinking tea. Tell him." He told his bodyguard who quickly shot back.

"I said I'm not getting involved. I just want to enjoy my tea like a normal person." She said and took another drink from her tea.

The General gave a gasp and feigned hurt. "You don't believe that drinking tea is important to life's meaning?" Iroh asked.

Lori gave a sweet smile to her elder. "Oh uncle." She said and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Don't encourage him." Zuko chided. "And I thought you were on my side!?"

"I'm not on anybody's side. And if I were, I wouldn't be on your grumpy ass's side."

"I'm not grumpy!"

"Are too!"

Su was standing next to Jee throughout the entire exchange, enjoying her own tea and watching silently. "Do they always argue like this?" She asked with genuine curiosity.

"We've learned to tune it out." Jee answered taking a swig of his own tea. "Fin thinks its the sexual tension between them."

Su nearly spit up her drink. "Se, sexual tension?" She asked almost shocked, and really hoping that nobody heard her.

"I don't know. Two hormonally charged teens who don't know how to get it out aside from arguing and sparing. Then again Fin's weird. He might be projecting." He said and took a swig. "All I knows is, sometimes they argue, sometimes they fight, but they rarely leave each others side." Jee explained his observations. He and only hand full of other crew members had been serving on this ship since the beginning. He was quick to pick up the the two teens habits.

It took a moment for Su to take in this information. Watching the two teens argue, she first believed it was Prince Zuko using his status and rank to abuse her, and because she was simply a bodyguard, there was nothing she could do but take it. Maybe she was wrong about him. Both of them. Just as Jee explained, they argued a lot, but at the same time they were always together. Come to think of it, she could barely think of a time they weren't together. It was a strange yet interesting relationship they had.

"I don't have a problem! Your the one with the problem!" Lori said a loud to Zuko.

"Don't deny it! You've been obsessed with them for years! Maybe if you weren't focused on your little addiction, we might have found something on the Avatar's whereabouts!" Zuko argued back.

Lori scoffed. "Oh so your saying that this is my fault!? That the fact so far we don't have any leads is because of me!?" She gave a sarcastic laugh. "Oh pu-lease!"

"You wasted time buying a whole crate of moon peaches!"

"I like moon peaches!"

"You bought a crate of moon peaches at the port before the last one!" Zuko argued. He wasn't wrong. At some point, he thought about dedicating an entire room designated as Lori's moon peach storage.

"You can never have to much moon peaches." Lori argued as though it was common sense.

"But you _do_ have to much moon peaches." Zuko argued. "Most of the peaches end up going to waste. We end up using the peaches to feed the Rhinos, because we have so much damn moon peaches that waste away."

"On the plus side-" Wong The Helmsman added. "-we haven't had to buy feed for the rhinos in months."

Zuko rubbed his nose, upset. "Of course not, because we're constantly having to buy peaches!" He turned back to Lori. "I'm pretty sure if we cut you open, peaches would come out."

Lori crossed her arms and huffed. "Thats ridiculous. They would be digested first of all, so it'll probably be some kind of moon peach sludge."

"Gross." Jee said to himself, while Su cringed next him.

"You know how the body is estimated 70% water, your 70% peach juice. You probably bleed peach juice."

Lori finally had enough. She stood up and walked towards the door. "I don't need this. I'm leaving and I am going to do some training!" She walked towards the door, opening it, and then turning back to grab the moon peaches left on the platter and taking a bite before finally walking out. " _And I'm taking theve wif me_!" She said mouth full of peaches before shutting the door behind her.

Zuko rested against the wall, groaning from the argument he just had. He wasn't completely wrong. They did spend a lot on Moon Peaches just for Lori. He didn't understand why his uncle aloud it. He didn't understand why _he_ aloud it.

"Lady troubles Prince Zuko?" Wong asked.

"I _will_ fire you Wong." Zuko threatened.

Wong just shrugged. "I was only wanting to help. I might've known a thing or two."

"You've been divorced seven times." Zuko shot back.

"Wrong. Six times." Wong corrected.

"You divorced number four twice. I'm pretty sure that constitutes as two divorces." Jee added.

After a couple minutes of going back and forth the door opens up again and Lori returned. This time she had a scowl on her face. She looked even more upset then from when she walked out the first time. This was something else.

"We have company." She said through gritted teeth.

She stepped in and was followed by Commander Zhao with a small group of guards behind him. Zuko immediately stood on guard at seeing the one-eyed Commander. Lori moved to stand next to her Prince as usual.

"Thank you very much for the escort dear Lauren. Its very much appreciated." Zhao said with a cocky smile. Lori just narrowed her eyes.

"Commander Zhao." Zuko said with much distain. "What are you doing here?"

Zhao took his time to look around the bridge. It was primitive compared to the more modern and advanced ships he commanded. He starred at everyone just lounging around in the bridge not doing much work. It was very unprofessional.

"I had received word that you had arrived. And since I command this port, I felt it was my responsibility and my duty to meet with you." Zhao simply said.

"Cut the pleasantries Zhao." Lori spat at him. "Just tell us what your really doing here."

Iroh quickly stood up and walked over to stand next to her. "Lori, there is no reason to be disrespectful."

Lori just huffed and said nothing more. Zhao's cocky smirk grew which angered Lori even more.

"Please, theres no need for hostilities. In face I've come to offer a peace offering." Zhao said before gesturing for the three of them to follow him. "Please allow me clarify my actions. Allow me to give a tour of the town." He waited for a response.

Iroh pleasantly took the offer and walked out the door. Annoyed by their elders actions, Zuko and Lori decided to take Zhao's offer and followed.

"Do we have to do this?" Lori asked quietly to her Prince.

"I don't think uncle's giving us much of a choice." He responded.

* * *

"Of course the Earth Kingdom put up a hard fight, but by utilizing a unique strategy I developed, we were able to overcome their defenses. And once there leadership had crumbled, the town, the port and the people soon followed. " Zhao had lead the three around the town he had just taken over, clearly flaunting his success over the Earth Kingdom. Iroh was more or less impressed by his work and how quickly he was able to subjugate the people of the town. Lori and Zuko however were not at all impressed.

"He sure loves to talk." Zuko said quietly to his bodyguard. They kept a safe distance so that they could safely talk about him behind his back.

"How do you think he beat the Earth Kingdom." She responded which made Zuko chuckle under his breath. It would have seemed that they found out Zhao's unique strategy: Talking until they just couldn't take it anymore.

Zhao stopped, as did the rest of the party, and turned around, clearly annoyed at the two teens. He had a feeling that they were making fun of him. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

Both teens were now staring at the Commander. "No of course not. Now please continue on. I'm hanging on your every word." Lori bluffed her way out of having him get upset at them. Turns out it was enough as he smirked and then turned back around to continue his tale.

"Well as I was saying..."

"Ass." Lori said quietly They continued following the commander and Zuko and Lori were still annoyed. They hated Zhao. They really hated Zhao.

"I think once this is over, we should avoid Zhao at all cost." Zuko suggested.

"Agreed." Lori said. "At least until we get something juicy. Then we can rub our something juicy in his ugly baboon face."

"Like rotten peaches." Zuko suggested.

Lori smiled. "Exactly. But where are we going to get rotten moon peaches around here? It's not Zhao's gonna let us our of his sight until he's done with, whatever."

"I don't know, but I really like that idea." Zuko said.

"Yeah. Or maybe we can get fresh peaches and it them instead."

"Right in front of him."

"Oh yeah."

"Is there something you two wish to discuss." Zhao said snapping at the two.

"Apologies Commander Zhao. I was just telling Lori about how impressive it was that you managed to take over the town all by yourself." Zuko bluffed.

That seemed to buy them more time, as Zhao smiled and turned back to explain his triumph. "Well, it wasn't too difficult..."

"Prick." Zuko said quietly as they continued.

By the time he had finished his tale, they had arrived at the large manor of the former mayor which now served as the command post for the Fire Nation. "And thus concludes our tour." Zhao said and turned around just as they arrived at the ornate doors of the estate. Two Earth Kingdom servants, most likely now slaves to the Fire Nation opened the doors for them. "But why end it here when our fun is just starting." He said and walked into the manor with his party following.

As they continued walking around the manor, many servants were going around hanging lanterns and readying tables for some kind of celebration. Lori and Zuko shared a look, both asking the same question on their minds. A few guards and messengers approached Zhao to exchange words. But it didn't seem to important. Zuko couldn't hear much of it, but Lori, on one occasion heard a messenger mention about men being in position. Perhaps for some preemptive attack of sorts against Earth Kingdoms stragglers. Not like she really cared.

Lori was quick to notice some of the servants starring at them. Specifically her, most likely with the same question, why was there a Water Tribe girl accompanying Fire Nation officers. She heard the whispers coming from them as they passed. She didn't really care for them. It was her business, and they ought to learn to mind their own.

They finally made it to another set of doors which lead to a grand courtyard which was also bustling with activity. There were more servants working out here as well preparing the area just as the ones inside. If there was some celebratory gathering happening, then this would be where it would be held instead of indoors. Indoors was just the welcoming area.

"You have the staff preparing for something Commander." Iroh spoke for them. "Is there a reason for such occasion?"

A smile grew on Zhao's face, as though he had been waiting for that exact question. Lori really hated that smile. "Well General, if you most know, there is going to be gala in my honor for capturing this town later this evening. Several high ranking officers will be coming as well."

Lori scoffed quietly. "As if his ego wasn't big enough." She said to herself, but her Prince got a bit of a chuckle out of it.

"Well, that seems like a fine idea. I can't remember the last time we ever held a such a celebration." He turned to his nephew who just grumbled to himself.

"Do not fret General. This is one of the reasons why I asked you all here." Zhao said and the two teens were immediately at attention. They did not like where this was going. "I know we had our differences in the past, and we may have gotten on the wrong foot during our last meeting-" He turned to Zuko when he mentioned their duel. "-but I would like for this to a fresh start for us. That is why I am inviting you all to be my honored guests." He finalized.

"What!?" Zuko cringed. Lori physically recoiled from the idea.

"We would be delighted to attend." Iroh said much to shock of the two teens.

"Uncle!?" Lori called. She didn't understand why he would agree to this.

"I am glad you have accepted my invitation." Zhao bowed to the General.

Lori grabbed her elder closer to him. "Um, Uncle, we kinda have a mission to do. And Zhao is kind of against us." She pleaded with him. However Iroh wasn't dissuaded.

"Non sense Lori. There is plenty of time for all that silliness later. Besides, its been awhile since we've been to a party." Iroh argued. The prospect of fine food was too much to pass by. "It would be an honor to attend." He stated once again.

"Excellent." Zhao said, and gestured to a group of guards behind them. "These men will escort you back to your ship. I anticipate your arrival." He said as they were lead away and out of the manor.

* * *

When they later arrived back to there ship Lori still hadn't stopped complaining. They entered the bridge once again, Lori still going on with her rant about why they should go to Zhao's party.

"-not to mention that Zhao is the only other person who standing in our way of capturing the Avatar. Why aren't you upset by this." She asked Zuko.

"I am. You just havn't given me the chance to say anything. You speak enough for both of us."

Iroh walked over to the table to the Pai Sho table to see how the helmsman was coming along. Not very well, but he was improving, all while Lori and Zuko continued complaining. "I just think it would be nice to spend an evening together." He voiced his opinion.

"Thats all fine and well, but why does it have to be at a party with other Fire Nation officers? And celebrating Zhao for that matter." Lori complained.

"It shouldn't matter what or with who the occasion is. We've all been working very hard lately, and didn't you say that you had a clue into the Avatar's whereabouts?" He asked Zuko.

Zuko looked down for a moment pondering the question. Sure he had something but nothing concrete. It was a stretch, but it was still more then they had before they were interrupted by Zhao. "Nothing for certain, but I do have a clue on where he's going."

Iroh smiled. "Isn't that good news!? Doesn't this cause for celebration?" He asked.

"NO!" Both teens said.

Iroh just sighed and made his way out of the bridge. "Very well then. I suppose you two can stay here while I attend the gala." He said before disappearing into the hall, leaving the two teens alone in the bridge. They both shared the same upset expression as they watched the old man disappear in the dark.

"We're gonna be stuck here forever aren't we." Lori asked.

Zuko just sighed. "It seems like it."

"We're gonna have to go to that party, aren't we?"

"I think so."

"I am not dancing."


	16. The Gala

"This is stupid! I don't want to go." Lori decried for the umpteenth time. As she waited outside Zuko's cabin while he got ready. She had been complaining about having to go to a gala in Zhao's honor since they left the manor. She hated this and she hated Zhao, everyone knew that.

"Yes, we all know you don't want to go." Zuko said through the metal door. He had been Lori's main victim of her ranting since they returned to their ship. "Everyone knows you don't like Zhao."

"Wrong. I don't not like him. I hate him, you know this." She said as she examined her gauntlet just to pass the time. She extended and retracted the blade loaded watching it work. She always wondered who it was that built this mechanism.

"Yeah, I know. I don't like it either, but we might as well suck it up and go. No point in complaining." He said.

"I'll complain if I want to." She said more so to herself. "You don't tell _me_ what to do." She mumbled.

A few minutes of silence passed as Lori continued waiting for Zuko to finishing getting dressed. Maybe he was right. Maybe she ought to stop complaining, considering no amount of complaining would convince Iroh to rethink the invitation. As she waited on Zuko and thought on what she would and could do to Zhao if he tried anything funny, one of the soldiers approached Lori.

"Ma'am, everything's ready. We're just now waiting on the two of you." The soldiers Yao said.

"Okay." Lori said and then slammed her fist on the door again. "ZUKO ARE YOU READY YET!?" She shouted.

"I'M COMING ALREADY!" He shouted back just as he opened the door to his cabin, finally dressed and ready to go, and with a rucksack in hand.

"No need to yell." Lori said.

Zuko growled in annoyance. He thrusted the rucksack into Yao's hands. "Get this onboard." He ordered and Yao was on his way.

Lori was now once again left alone with Zuko, now dressed on special ceremonial royal armor, similar to the suit he usual wore only with golden trim and dragons engraved on the plating. He only wore it for special occasions. So not very often. He looked to Lori who just stared at him in his new attire silent.

"Well. How do I look?" He asked.

Lori was quiet for a moment. He most definitely looked handsome, especially in this outfit, but she really didn't feel like saying it out loud. She preferred to let her annoyance at having to attend this party take control of her response rather then her own personal feelings.

"Like someone owes me another crate of moon peaches for having to join you at this stupid party." She said in a snarky tone as she got off the wall she was leaning against.

Zuko groaned at her response. "Lets just go find uncle." He said, shutting the door to his cabin and started down the hall. Before he could take a step however Lori stopped him by placing hand to his chest.

"Hold on." She said and started brushes off smudges that she saw on his armor.

"What are you-?" Zuko tried to ask but was cut off.

"Shush." She said and continued. She removed her sash from around her waist, dabbed it a little with her tongue to moisten it and whipped the harder smudges off. Zuko was silent throughout all of this, unsure as as to what to say. Once she was done with cleaning off the smudges and retied her sash and straightening the out-of-place plates and retying the laces.

"It's been awhile since you wore this, hasn't it?" She asked in a more lower tone. He looked good in this armor, she wouldn't lie. It was ashamed he didn't have much of an occasion to wear it. It was even more ashamed that it took a party in celebration of Zhao to finally bust it out.

"I suppose." Zuko responded.

After a few more minutes she finished up cleaning off the smudges from his armor. She brushed off the remaining marks. "All right. There we go." She took a step back to further admire Zuko's attire. "Now all the girls won't be able to keep theirs eyes off you." She joked.

Zuko just huffed. "Oh don't start." He grumbled as he marched down the hall.

Lori followed closely behind him as always. "I'm just saying. Maybe even the pretty ones will bat an eye."

"Quiet."

"With child baring hips."

"Stop it!" Zuko cringed.

Lori snickered seeing her Prince squirm.

They finally found their elder waiting on the main deck, along with Su and a few other guards to accompany them. Iroh was wearing his old ceremonial armor, which might or might not have been a little too tight for him. Su occasionally had to adjust the threads to make sure the retired General was comfortable. She wore her new dress that he bought her the earlier, but still kept the red cloak she always wore. Seeing his nephew in his ceremonial armor brought a smile to his face. He still looked fine in it. However he was surprised to see his niece in her usual armor.

"Lori, what happened to the dress I got you for this occasion?" Iroh asked.

Lori replied rather vaguely. "I'm sorry Uncle. But I'm afraid that something tragic happened to the dress you got me. Its ashamed really."

Zuko added, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah. Tragic." She had him burn it. No way in hell she was gonna wear a dress. And especially not to a party for Zhao.

The sad look on their elders face did sting a bit, but it was not enough for her to even reconsider wearing the dress. She was not wearing a dress. "Oh. That is such a shame. I thought it would've been nice." He said disappointed. Su gently gave a pat on his shoulder. But she was slightly suspicious.

"Besides, I'm not going to party Uncle. I'm going to do my job as Zuko's bodyguard." She stated firmly.

"Oh, but just because you'll be on duty doesn't mean you can't have fun." Iroh argued. back

"I refuse to have fun on principle." She argued back.

"We're wasting time. Can we just get this over with!" Zuko demanded walking past his uncle.

"Right behind you." Lori said.

The two teenagers took the ramp off their ship and to where a Ostrich-Horse drawn carriage was waiting for them. Three-Finger-Fin was driving, he to would be accompanying them. Iroh was still disappointed that neither his nephew nor his charge were looking forward to this Gala. He had really hoped that after all the hard work they have been doing they would look forward to having some down time at a party.

"It's such a shame that they aren't looking forward to this Gala as I had hoped."

"I'm sure they have their reasons general." Su comforted.

The two along with their escort, Lt. Jee and 2nd Lieutenant Yao, followed, the teens and climbed into the carriage. The guards driving the carriage snapped the reins and they were off to the manor. There was just enough room in the carriage for six, however given Zuko's status as a VIP, he was forced to sit in between Lori and Yao, leaving him in uncomfortable position. However the exact opposite was true opposite of them. Given Iroh's rather large size, Su and Jee were practically hugging the walls, so Zuko couldn't complain. That didn't stop him from complaining.

"Why again, do I have to be in the middle?" Zuko asked.

Lori scoffed having to explain this again as they passed through the towns square. "Because your a noble. Which means you have to be protected. Can't really keep you safe if your head's sticking out the window like a deer-dog."

"I can barely breath."

"Tough."

"I was never told I'd be a human shield today." Said Yao.

Lori turned to him. "Yao your a human shield."

"Okay." He said flatly.

They continued the trip on silence. Lori watched how the town was fairing under Fire Nation occupation. Large banners and statues were already up and several patrols of Fire Nation soldiers were on the streets making their presence known. They were a few citizens who looked in their direction with hate in their eyes. Some looked at _her_ with surprise, maybe even shock. She recognized those looks. They either thought she was a prisoner or a trophy for the officers, or they thought she was a personal servant. They were always in horror when they found out her true position among the Fire Nations royals. Not like she cared. They ought to just mind their own business.

"So what can we expect from a Fire Nation Gala like this? This is my first attending one, you know, not as a servant." Su asked that room. "Well, not that I'm not a servant, but its just that, well I've just..." She blabbered trying to find the right words.

"Well, a Gala such as this, you could definitely count on their being fine, rich food, and good tea as well." Iroh said, mouth almost watering in anticipation. There will also be music and dancing. As well as a performance and sometimes fire works."

"There will most likely be a big speech by Zhao as well." Jee added.

Zuko scoffed. "If he waits to till the end of the party, it'll be morning by the time he finishes." During the speech. An opportune time.

"Yeah, because his ego wasn't be enough already." Lori said disgruntled.

Iroh looked to his charge who kept looking out the window. "There is no need to be so down Lori. We're going to a gala to enjoy some fun. I don't understand why you have to dislike Commander Zhao so much."

Zuko looked from his uncle to his bodyguard who didn't move a muscle. After a long pause she finally spoke. "I have my reasons." she said in a darker tone.

Iroh looked to his nephew for any clue, but he gave none. Her reason for her hatred of the Commander was a secret only they knew about. If they didn't want to share with him that was fine. He wouldn't force them to. He just wished they could learn to enjoy moments like this.

"It's always important to enjoy the moments you have with the people you love. Sometimes we often look back into the past, only to wonder where all the time has gone." Iroh spoke aloud to everyone present. "You should learn to appreciate the time you have with the people around you."

Lori wanted to drown out her elders voice with the sound of the outside world, but his words kept echoing in her ears. She couldn't help but thinking about her family. Not the water tribe family that abandoned her, her newer Fire Nation family. She wondered how Mei Lein was doing back in the Fire Nation. It was ashamed she had to stay behind, but maybe it was for the best.

Her thoughts then went to big brother Lu Ten. She could only imagine how life would just be easier if he were still around. She missed him so much. Iroh had already left her when he and Lu Ten went off to war. He never truly came back home. A part him died when his son did.

Lori turned around and looked to Zuko. The one person who had yet to leave her. He once said he would never leave her, and she believed that with all her heart. But she still wondered if that moment would come. When would the day come that Zuko finally abandoned her like everyone else had done.

Zuko could feel her eyes on him. Her turned to face her faded blue eyes staring back into his golden ones. They had been through so much together. Iroh teased them earlier but it was true. They had always been together since they were kids. Almost nothing could keep them separated. When he was first banished, he was afraid he would never see her again. He knew his father hated her and would keep them separated if given the chance. Luckily he had his uncle somehow pull some stings and here they were. He never wanted to find out how his life would be without her. He did however wonder what she was thinking about.

"What?" He asked.

Lori didn't even realize she was starring until Zuko spoke up. She purged all thoughts from her mind to come up with a solid excuse. "You have big forehead." She flatly before looking out the window again to avoid anymore questions.

"No I don't!" Zuko snapped.

They finally arrived at the manor. There were other carriages present along with other Fire Nation officers and those who accompanied them. Su took the liberty of exiting first and holding the door for the others to step out. Iroh had some problems, requiring help from Zuko and Lori, but they all managed to exit unscathed. They could hear the faint music playing inside and the smell of food could be detected from all the way outside. At least Iroh could smell it. They approached the grand doors where servant were waiting to welcome them.

Iroh was more then happy to go inside along with Su, who believed it best to stay at his side. The followed shortly behind.

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." Lori said as they passed the grand doors.

"Talk about morbid." Zuko commented.

"Actually I was being optimistic." Lori said. "Gentleman you know what to do. Jee-"

"Keep an eye on Su and the General." He answered.

"Yao."

"Just be myself."

"This ought to go swimmingly." Zuko voiced.

Much to their surprise, waiting for them was the former mayor and his wife along with a servant with a tray of drink for the guests. They had such large faces it was rather creepy.

"Good evening! Welcome to our humble home. We are honored to have you in our presence." The mayor said, almost rehearsed.

"Please enjoy these refreshments." The wife said as the servant offered the drinks on display. "Please. The finest rice wine in town."

Each person took a glass, however Zuko and Lori refused to actually drink. They didn't like the look of any of this and especially the looks of the mayor and his wife. Maybe they were just being paranoid which was probably the case. Nevertheless, upon taking the drinks, the hosts offered to escort the party to the grand hall where the festivities began, and from there to the courtyard, where everyone else already was.

"This is a very lovely home." Iroh commented.

"Thank you very much." The wife gave a polite bow. "This manor has actually been around since the days of Avatar Kyoshi. Only a few decades before her passing."

Su looked from the decor of the hall to the lady of the house in awe. "Really. Its so, so grand." It was rare for her to be in such a home. She only ever worked on ships, never homes or manors. It was ashamed this was now in the hands of the Fire Nation. But she kept that comment to herself

"Whats the square footage?" Yao, seemingly teleporting behind them asked.

Zuko, Lori and Jee looked behind them swearing that he was behind them. To say they were shocked was an understatement.

"Um, I believe its about, twenty thousand." The mayor said.

"Does that include the garden?"

"Yao!" Jee beckoned him to stop.

"Its just a common question." Yao argued while the Mayor and his wife were left confused about this strange man. "Do you have any animal's on the property?" Yao asked as he sniffed the drink.

The mayor and his wife were left in question still. "Uh, yes. We have a few Ostrich Horses."

"What about live stock? Geese? Turkey Ducks? Hogs?"

Yao was making things uncomfortable and awkward. Exactly as planned. Maybe he was a little to good as this job. Su had taken a drink and it was the very good. Then again she couldn't really judge given her position for most of her life. But it was still good. Only second to Iroh's tea. A small part of her wanted to ask the general if they could take a bottle or two. Maybe she would ask him later, once he's had some food in his belly.

"So you don't know how to take care of the animals yourselves?" Yao continued his questions.

"I suppose not. But thats what our servants are for of course." The mayor said.

"Do they now how to?"

While Yao worked his magic Lori was busy watching the surroundings for any weak points around the manor. There were on average two to four guards posted at each entry way. There were also guards patrolling the second floor just incase, however she noted prolonged intervals between patrols passing, leaving a short blind spot which could easily be exploited. For the most part, the guards were relaxed, their arrogance not allowing them to anticipate a potential attack. The staff however were on edge. Most likely in fear of pissing off their new Fire Nation masters. Some of them gave he dirty looks. Wether it was because she was Water Tribe with the Fire Nation, or just by association didn't matter.

They continued until they finally arrived in the grand hall where a few guests were mingling with others before actually going to the party. They also stopped here. There were two guards posted at the bottom of the grand staircase, and two more at the the top. More guards patrolled on the second floor which also lead outside in the courtyard for constant surveillance. She still found their weak spot. Only Fire Benders, no archers.

It wasn't long until Zhao, along with some guards, finally arrived to welcome them. The moment he arrived Lori immediately felt annoyed at his presence. As if she wasn't already annoyed having to come to a party in his honor.

"General Iroh and Prince Zuko. And Warrant Officer Lauren, so glad you could make it." He said in a faux welcoming tone with a fake smile.

Iroh gave a respectful bow as did the Commander in return. "We are honored to have been invited Commander Zhao." He said and looked to Zuko and Lori to add to his statement.

"What he said." Lori said flatly.

The mayor and his wife began to get very nervous now in the presence of Zhao. Most definitely afraid of how he'd react if he believed they failed to make good hosts. Zhao however didn't pay them any mind. The smile vanished when he noticed the three extra guests that accompanied his guests. "You also brought along friends."

"We hope you don't mind." Iroh said.

"Not at all. Please, enjoy the Gala. I'll join shortly." Zhao said as he walked off and up the stairs along with his guards.

The mayor and his wife visibly relaxed once the Commander had left and disappeared upstairs. Another servant came by with a trey of drinks and they took and drank them to calm their nerves.

"Once again, thank you for humoring us. And please, enjoy the party." The lady of the house said.

Iroh gave the rest of the party the okay to go ahead and go and enjoy themselves in the music and food of the party in the courtyard. He apparently had somethings to speak with the mayor. Jee and Three-Finger-Fin went off to the party, already familiar with their part of the plan. They just needed to keep their noses clean and eyes open.

"I'd like to take a look around the house." Yao asked, to which the lady of the house was oddly more then eager to comply.

"Please, I can show you." She offered kindly.

"Great."

While they went off to the stairs, Iroh walked over to the now calmed mayor. "Excuse me, I sent a message earlier about-"

"-oh yes. Its waiting in one of the rooms. Please follow me, I'll show you." The mayor said.

Iroh gave a thankful boy before turning back to his party. "Su, will you and Lori follow me please?" It wasn't a question.

Su made to follow, but Lori held her back just for a moment. "We'll be there in just a moment uncle."

Once he was gone, Lori pulled her remaining co-conspirators into a huddle. "Okay, things aren't going as I initially thought."

"You think." Zuko said. "There might be some opening in their patrols, but they've got this place pretty secured. And we still don't know what the second or third floor are like completely."

Lori grunted, annoyed from the obvious holes in their plan right off the bat. However things could get worse. Lori was always good at adapting to her situations. This was no different. However her elders mystery message was definitely suspicious. "Its not over yet. We've still got a chance here."

"We just need to make a new plan."

"I believe Yao has a plan." Su spoke up. Zuko and Lori turned behind them to where Su was pointing at. Yao was on the staircase, shaking and beating the the banisters to check their sturdiness. The lady of the house was cringing while the guards looked in utter befuddlement. The three returned to their huddle.

"We don't need a new plan. We just need to adapt to the current situation and use whatever we can to our advantage. Yao's already performing better then I anticipated." They all turned back once more. Some how, Yao convinced the guards to take turns sliding down the banisters as some part of experiment. He was even taking notes. "This can still work out in our favor." Lori said.

Zuko didn't seem convinced. Things could go horribly wrong real quick if they slipped up. However it wasn't like they had many options. "I hope your right. If we get caught..."

"I know, we're screwed. We just need to stay on our toes."

Su had been feeling uncomfortable with all this secrecy. She didn't think she could be apart of this. She was built for this kind of work. She was just a servant, not some secret agent. "I'm sorry. I'm just uncomfortable being a part of this, conspiracy. I don't think I can..."

"Tough." Lori stated flatly. "You wanted in, your in. No backing out." She stated firmly. Su just huffed. She was right. She asked to help however she could. She was just hoping she could help Lori involving personal, private matters, not espionage.

"Just be careful. We need to tread lightly here. We're in not so friendly territory here." Zuko offered, more so to Lori.

"We'll be fine. Now lets go see what uncle wants." Lori said taking Su with her, as per her elders request. "YAO!" Lori yelled as the man in question was currently about to take a surfboard down the banister of the stairs. Her shout made all the guards jump.

Zuko, begrudgingly passed through the doors out to the courtyard where the party was in full swing. He wasn't a big fan of parties with so many people. He chose to stay away from the center of the yard where the guest mostly congregated. Thats where the admirals, generals, and officers were flaunting their egos and high status their medal adorned uniforms. He made sure to avoid them at all costs. He wasn't oblivious to the glances from the guests and the whispers. He was the infamous Banished Prince. Of course they would talk about him.

He hated these big parties. Even when he was younger, he was always wary when in large crowds and always having to tread lightly, always having to be on his best behavior or risk embarrassing the family. He much preferred small family gatherings. As in no one at all. Just him, his uncle, his mother, Lu Ten and Lori in the garden. That was all he ever needed.

"Its the banished prince."

"Whats he doing here?"

"Was he even invited?"

He heard the whispers all around him. They thought he didn't but he did. He was half expecting the music to stop and further emphasize just how odd it was for him to be here. Thankfully they didn't. he spotted Jee and then Three-Finger-Fin mingling with some of the soldiers amongst the partygoers. Trying to approach either of them just so he could be with someone her knew was just pathetic. The whispers quickly turned into sneers. He needed a drink. He walked over to the buffet table and took a glass of rice wine.

"Zuko." He heard a voice from behind. A girls voice, and all too familiar to him.

* * *

When Lori and Su left Zuko, Lori was immediately worried, about how Zuko would fair on his own. Their plan never involved her leaving his side. She just hoped that whatever her elder wanted, it would be fast so she could get back to her prince as quickly as possible.

The servant escorting them finally brought them to a door at the end of a hall, where the mayor was waiting for them. He welcomed them and opened the door, leading them inside. It was a large, oval shaped room with no windows and thick insulated walls. Something about this room told Lori it was meant for private meetings, thus the sound proofing. She still wondered about the tarp in the center of the room. The mayor talked to them about how this room held many private parties and "Secret Meetings" throughout the years. There was one thing that was pretty cool.

"-And notice how the door disappears into the paneling." The mayor said as he demonstrated. Lori was impressed. It did virtually disappear, and look just like wall.

"Yeah, so your captives can't find their way out." Lori joked making Su snicker a little.

The mayor laughed, mostly trying to appease to Lori. "He he he, yes, very funny my lady." He said hoping to sound convincing. She wasn't convinced. "Now, I'll just leave you too your business." The mayor said and gave another bow before exiting the room and shutting the door behind him.

As soon as they were alone she heard Iroh speak from behind. "Lori, I am so glad you could be here."

"You kinda asked me to uncle."

Iroh laughed. "Well, I am still happy you chose to come. Now then-"

"Whats under the curtain uncle?" She asked. Iroh only replied with a smile.

Su put her hand on Lori's arm and had a sad and apologetic look on her face. "Just so you know, I tried to talk him out of it." She offered.

"What are you..." She asked but was interrupted when she heard the curtain fall to the floor. She was horrified to see there was a whole new dress. A dress similar to the one she had Zuko destroy. For a moment she thought she was in some nightmare world and the dress had come back to haunt her. "What is this!?" She stated as she slowly began to back away.

Iroh still kept the smile on his face. "Now, I know you said you didn't want to wear a dress..."

Lori turned around hoping to escape but could find the hidden door. "Where's the door! Where's the door!" She panicked looking for her escape.

"...I believe that you would look lovely dear. And I imagine there would be many who would agree."

Lori stated slamming her fists on the wall. "LET ME OUT OF HERE!" She called out as she continued to bang her fists on the wall.

"...And I imagine Prince Zuko would very much agree and would appreciate seeing you in such a lovely-" He went silent when he heard the audible crash of Lori punching her gauntleted fist through the wall.

Lori's face was contorted in discomfort as she realized what she had just done, and her mistake. "That was a wall wall." She said to herself as she slowly pulled her fist out of the hole.

Despite the current situation Iroh still tried imploring her to accept the dress. "It'll only be one evening. I don't wish for Su's involvement to have gone to waste."

Lori's eyes went wild, turning to face Su. "YOU!" She charged forward wanting to get her revenge on the woman who had betrayed her. Su however coward behind the only safe place she knew, behind General Iroh. Lori had to admit, it was smart to use her elder as a human shield. "You betrayed me!" She accused Su.

"He only asked for some help." Su tried to reason.

"Lori please. It'll just be for one evening." Iroh continued to implore.

"I thought it would be nice for you." Su once again added.

Lori finally relented. "I don't care what you think!" She admonished. She then turned to the dress, examining and touching the fabric. "You have good taste, I admit."

Iroh smiled. "So you do like the dress." He said delightedly

"No."

"I knew you would come around."

"No!"

"I just knew it, this will look lovely on you."

"NO!"

"No one will be able to take their eyes off you."

"No no No No NO!" Lori shouted.

"You will be the loveliest young woman at the party."

Lori walked over, grabbed her elders collar and buried her face into his shoulder. They only heard her grumbling something quietly that they couldn't understand. Su looked to Lori almost worried about the girl's state. They finally heard her speak. "You not letting this go until I wear the dress, aren't you?" She asked, having given up.

Iroh gave a soft chuckle. "Of course not dear. If you do not want to wear the dress, then its alright."

Lori finally pulled away. "Yeah, thats exactly what someone who would want me to wear the dress would say in order to let my guard down." Lori massaged her temple. She finally gave up and said. "Fine. I'll wear the dumb dress."

Iroh lit up with a bright smile. "Great! I'll leave you two to it!" He said delighted as he walked over to where the door was and some how managed to open it before walking out.

Lori looked toward the exit longingly. "Freedom." She said quietly to herself as the door shut, giving them privacy. Lori just huffed and started with unbuckling her scabbard and disarming so she could begin with disrobing.

Su helped however Lori would allow, such as removing her weapons and putting them aside. Su was most definitely surprised by how much carried at once, a pair of swords, twin daggers, a crossbow, and many, many, many knives. She was very taken away by the gauntlet she always wore, it was quite astonishing to see the wicked tool up close. And it was surprisingly heavy. Upon the removal of the gauntlet Su's eyes were once again drawn to the bandages that were wrapped around Lori's hand. Lori removed pieces of her armor which she handed to Su until she was left in her light grey shirt and black pants. It was the moment Lori started pulling off her shirt that Su wondered if her presence was needed even further.

"Um, would you like me to go?" She asked.

"I don't care. Stay if you want. I might need help with the dress." Lori responded having removed her shirt and then moved to her pants and was now left her red under garments.

They spent the next twenty minutes, more or less on dressing Lori. Every second that passed felt like hours for Lori. She hated the idea of being dressed up just for pleasantries. It seemed to much like a waste of time. Why spend so much time dressing up when it would only be just for a few short hours. She hadn't ever worn dresses before.

"Ow." She winced as she felt her hair being tugged as Su continued to brush her long hair.

"I'm sorry." Su apologized. "It's just, your is messy."

"Yeah yeah I know. _Messy water tribe hair, bleh_." She said back in a mocking tone. She had heard the comments all her life.

"No no, thats not what I meant." Su offered.

"Whatever." Lori said and continued brooding.

Lori was now wearing the dress, much to her own chagrin. She hated this even more, since this was all for a party in honor of Zhao. She hated Zhao.

Su finally stopped brushing and placed the brush down. With some finishing touches to her hair, she took a step back to further admire her work. She could feel a smile forming on her face at seeing Lori. The slim fitting dress seemed accentuate an hour glass figure that Lori seemed to hide beneath all her armor. With her long flowing hair down and free she was a sight to behold. In that moment Su decided to go ahead and readjust the stola so that it hung lower and more loosely to hide her hourglass figure, her own way of protecting Lori from mens wandering eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Lori asked, mildly annoyed. "Stop it." She said as she fiddled with her outfit. It wasn't uncomfortable, she just didn't like it.

"No, you, you just look great." Su said honestly.

"I feel like a whore." Lori said with almost disgust.

Su almost felt insulted herself from Lori comment. "You do not. You look beautiful." She reaffirmed. "Just look at yourself." Su implored and grabbed her shoulders and turned around around toward the mirror.

"Hey stop it." Lori tried to fight her off. "I don't want to see myself in this stupid dre..." She tried to say but stopped when she looked at herself in the mirror. The girl she saw in the mirror was someone she couldn't recognize. It took her a moment to fully realize that it was her own reflection. A bright red sleeveless dress which contrasted with the darker burgundy stola which hung off her shoulder from a golden, ornate ring and wrapped around her right hip where the second half of the fabric was held together be five smaller gold rings.

Lori was at a loss for words at her own reflection. She never really had the chance to actually dress up fancy when she was younger, and seeing the other girl flaunt around in their expensive clothing like they were something special while they mocked _her_ appearance made her resent dresses. Seeing herself now in such attire, she no longer knew what to think anymore. This person that stared back at her in the mirror was not her, and she knew it, but she didn't see it as a bad thing. She just never really had the chance to think about beauty. If it didn't improve her work performance then it was important.

In Lori's silence, Su grew closer to Lori. Seeing the younger girl in stunned silence made her smile in amusement. Nonetheless she encouraged her. "I think you look beautiful Lori." She said quietly to her, hoping to snap her out of her trance. It didn't work however. "I believe Prince Zuko would think they same thing."

At the mention of her Prince, Lori's eyes narrowed, making an annoyed expression. There was no reason for her to bring up Zuko at this moment. She avoided Su's eyes as she slowly began to walk away from the mirror. "Shut up." She huffed annoyed. "I don't care what he thinks. You don't know anything." She said rubbing her arm in a defensive manner.

Her attack didn't stop Su from further complimenting her. There was one thing however that was still bothering her, and it was the bandages that were wrapped around Lori's right arm. Being their eggshell color, they didn't match her outfit at all. She reached over to try and remove them.

"I still think we ought to remove these..." Su began unwrapping the bandages just as Lori snapped and grabbed her wrist in a tight grip. She looked into the younger girls eyes which now held anger.

"What the hell do you think your doing!" Lori snapped.

Su was scared of her once again. "I, I was just removing the bandages." She explained.

Lori kept her eyes on Su for a longer moment until she tossed her wrist away from her and rewrapped the bandages. "Don't! I don't want to take them off!" She said.

"They don't match your outfit. Their kind of an eyesore." Su offered an explanation.

"Taking off the bandages will be an even bigger eyesore." Lori warned.

Su wasn't exactly sure what she meant by that, however she refused to relent. She looked around the room looking for something. "How, about..." She said as she walked over to the nearby table and grabbed a pair of black silk gloves with golden trim. "... what about these?" She offered, aligning the gloves with her arm.

"Gloves? I'm not wearing gloves." Lori said.

"You wear that gauntlet everyday. Whats the difference between that and these?" Su questioned.

"That gauntlet is one of my weapons. It serves a purpose at protecting Prince Zuko. These..." Lori pointed at the gloves. "...are for ladies who are too afraid of breaking a fingernail from picking up a glass of rice wine."

Su did not take offense to Lori's comment about the gloves, but she was adamant about the gloves. "Well these can also serve a purpose, of allowing you to fit in without drawing unwanted attention."

"I'm water tribe. My whole life revolves around unwanted attention."

Once again, Su did not relent. "Please Lori. Do this the General."

Lori narrowed her eyes for a moment, but then finally scoffed and snatched the gloves from Su's hands. "This is more work then I've done all year." She grumbled and motioned to begin to unwrap her bandages when she saw Su smiling at her. "Turn around!" She snapped and turned around herself so that she could unwrap the bandages in private. Su as well did what she asked and turned around.

After a few minutes of Lori finally finished with her the bandages and put on the glove on her right hand. There was only one problem. "Su." Lori said as they both turned around. She showed her the issue. The glove only reached just below the elbow while the bandages extended to halfway up the upper arm, which still remained bandaged. Su was slightly annoyed but the circumstance, not as much as Lori was. "I'm not taking the rest of it off."

Su huffed but didn't say comment. "Don't worry. this is a simple fix." She said and walked over to take the short burgundy cape and draped it over her right shoulder. It was just long enough to pass her elbow and thus hiding the bandages while remaining fashionable. "There. Perfect."

"If you say so." Lori said stretching her arm to see that it was fully functional with the cape while it kept bandages hidden. She was slightly impressed. "Is that everything?" She asked.

"Almost." Su said.

Lori whined like a child. "Oh come on. How much more is..." She turned around to face the older girl when she saw her holding her sash with the knife belt, which now also had her scabbard with her twin daggers strapped to them. "What are you doing with that?"

Su didn't answer, but proceeded to tie the sash around her waist making sure the knife belt was on the inside and the scabbard was concealed beneath the cape. With the knife belt inside, the knives that stuck out just appeared to be like decoration to the untrained eye. "There. Now your ready incase something happens. Spirits forbid anything happen." Su said.

"Are we finally done here? I feel ridiculous, and I want to get this over with." Lori begged.

"Yes we are. We should meet with General Iroh again." Su answered with a smile as she saw Lori sigh in relief as she motioned toward the door where she now knew where it was.

"Finally. Thank the spirits." Lori said as she opened the door. She was finally out of the room and in the empty hall as Su followed behind and closed the door behind them.

"And Lori..." Lori was about to snap at her and demanded no more adjustments to her clothes. She just wanted to continue down the hall and regroup with Zuko. "You look beautiful. No matter what others think, you do look beautiful."

Lori didn't move when she heard Su's words. She never really cared about what other thought of her appearance, then again she never really considered it all that much. Until now. She turned back to Su, still with an annoyed look in her eyes. "Thank you Su." She said, still sounding a bit annoyed, but more so with herself. "This doesn't really mean much to me, but still. Thank you for what you've done."

Su smile grew and she gave a polite bow to her. "Of course. _Lady Lori_."

Lori quickly turned back and marched down the hall. "Oh don't you start!" She said while Su snickered and followed.


	17. Old Friends

"Hey Jee." The Lieutenant heard a voice behind him. It was Three-Finger-Fin approaching with drinks in his hands. He joined the officer along the eastern wall of courtyard where all of the lower ranked officers had congregated for the gala.

"Fin." Jee said as the young private handed him one of the drinks. He took a sip. "Where have you been?"

"I had trouble with parking. Finally managed to find a space out back. And the guards kept hassling me about." Fin answered taking a sip of his drink before continuing. "Luckily they didn't search the carriage."

"Well thats a relief." Jee said. He took another drink. "Anything to report?"

Fin shrugged. "Couple of guards in the back door. Three, along with I think seven watching the outer perimeter. I think I saw some Archers on the roof."

"Yuyan?"

"I don't think so." Fin replied before taking another drink. "Its pretty guarded, but not tightly secured. A couple sneaky boys could get in with some time and planning."

Jee nodded before taking a drink once again. "Nice."

"I also saw General Hung on my way here. I think he arrived shortly before we did."

"He's the one who lives here. He and his family." Jee corrected causing Fin to choke on his drink.

"Wait, I thought Zhao took over the town."

"Oh he did. Just with General Hung's help." Jee explained.

It seemed odd they were doing this. Checking out the security detail for this party, intelligence gathering. He had done his own part, talking with some of the other officers, trying to prod them for any relevant information to little success. It seemed almost treasonous to do so. They were in fact, conspiring against their fellow countryman. He should've tried talking to the Prince about this plan, and about his grudge against Commander Zhao. Then again, he would've had to deal with Lori as well. And he wasn't really feeling suicidal yet.

"Anyway, whats up with everyone else?" Fin asked.

"Well Prince Zuko went off to mingle, if you can believe it."

"I don't, but continue."

"I think General Iroh went to some meeting of sorts. Lori went with him, for protection I assume, and Su went with her. For some reason." Jee answered to the best of his capabilities.

"What about Yao?"

"Yao has gone rogue." Jee said simply as he pointed toward a small crowd which had gathered in front of them. It was then Zhao appeared and took notice of the, distraction.

"Uh oh." Jee said as he quickly finished his drink and set it down.

"Abort mission." Fin followed suit.

Zhao approached the crowd with an annoyed expression on his face. It was the mayors wife who first took notice of him and she immediately grew nervous.

"Commander Zhao." She welcomed.

"What is going on here!?" He questioned. He didn't like that _his_ gala was being distracted by this eyesore of a crowd.

"Forgive me, but this Lieutenant was just telling us about, uh..." She went blank and turned back to Yao. "How do you do it again."

Yao downed his drink. "So you hold its neck back, like so-" He explained as he demonstrated on one of the officers in the crowd.

"-insert the knife beneath the jaw. Theres gonna be a good amount of blood. Now don't let that bother you, have a bucket close by for all the blood, the innards and feathers... you might also want to wear gloves just incase, to prevent disease. Now, when it comes to pig-chickens..."

Zhao just starred at the man so confused before slowly backing away and returning inside to the manor.

Jee and Fin stood by watching the entire thing with such surprise. Yao managed to disturb Zhao enough to get him to retreat. "The mad man." Fin commented.

"I need another drink." Jee said.

"Right behind you."

* * *

To his surprise, Zuko felt a pair of arms wrap around him in a warm hug. It wasn't unwelcome, it was just unexpected.

"Zuko, its so good to see you again. It's been too long. Since we last saw each other." She said as she held onto him. As Zuko slowly snapped out of his shock, he began to close his arms around her, resting his hands on her elbows. He heard purr with gratitude.

"There he is. You haven't changed all that much." She said as she finally pulled away from the Prince.

"Jia!" Zuko exclaimed as his brain recognized the face of his old friend. He almost didn't recognize her in the bright red dress and golden ear rings and necklace.

"He does speak!" Jia exclaimed, giggling to herself.

Zuko finally manages to crack a smile and begins chuckling as well. "I'm sorry. Its just, I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Oh! Am I not good enough take part in such festivities as this big fancy, ' _gala_ '? Is that what you big, fancy, royals call it?" She joked making Zuko laugh more. "What, is ' _party_ ' not fancy enough for you? You made up the word _gala_ to further distance yourselves from us lowly peasants."

They continued to laugh some more before finally calming down from their mockery. Zuko's spirits lifted exponentially from his short time with Jia. For a minute they just stood there starring at each other and smiling.

"Its so good to see you again Zuko." Jia says with such a warm smile on her.

"Its good to see you too." Zuko says back, feeling genuinely good for the moment. "How have you been?"

"I've been good." Jia answers and crosses her arms. "I might still be a little bitter from when you cheated in our sword fighting match at Master Piandao's."

Zuko was immediately on the defensive as though they had been arguing about this for years. "I did not cheat! I won that match fair and square."

"You had private lessons with Piandao." She argued.

"Didn't you live at his castle for a over a year; before _we_ even met?" Zuko countered.

"So did you?"

"For only two months to finish my training. Its not my fault your not a true swords master."

Jia's expression dropped from the insult, but then turned into an arrogant smile as she placed a finger on Zuko's chest. "Oh don't you dare. I ate some bad rice that morning and you know it. Because that would've been the only way you could have beaten me!" She accused.

"You did not eat tainted rice."

"That sounds like someone who would taint someone, (who is clearly better then you in swordsmanship, and better looking then you)'s rice would say."

"I did NOT taint your rice!" Zuko claimed.

"Cheater,who,taints,their,superiors,rice,early,in,the,morning,before,a,sword,match,says,what?" She said as she cupped her ear to better hear Zuko's response.

"I am not falling for that. Again." Zuko states.

After a short pause the two begin to laugh once more, much to the annoyance of the other guests around them. When they finally calm down they're both smiling again, however that changes when they hear the other partygoers complaints about their banter.

"Can't those two be rowdy elsewhere." One of the guests says quietly, but still loud enough that Zuko and Jia can hear. Their moods drop.

"This is a Gala after all, not some backwater tavern!" Another guest comments.

Zuko clenches his fist in frustration. He was just enjoying himself for once , but he can't even have that apparently.

"I swear, has the Prince become so uncivilized?" another asks.

" _Banished_ Prince." another corrects.

Zuko was just about to turn around and demand they say those words to his face, or maybe shoot fire at them. Maybe then they would learn to keep their mouths shut, but before he can make a scene Jia takes his arm and leads him away from the crowd.

"Come on. Don't mind them. They're all just stuck up pricks." She says hoping to calm his mood as she pulls him away.

As they walk into the hall of the manor, Zuko's anger subsides. Neither of the teens lets go of the other.

"Don't worry about them Zuko, they're not worth your time." Jia says.

Zuko takes a deep breath letting the anger pass. "I'm just sick and tired of all this. Its not like I wanted to be striped of my title and banished."

"I know Zuko. None of us wanted that."

They remain silent for a moment as they walk further away from the courtyard and away the others. Zuko looks at her for a moment and she then looks up to him. She smiles.

"It _is_ good to see you again Zuko." She says as she rested her head against him.

Zuko smiled at her. "Its good to see you too."

They turn the corner arriving in one of the outer halls.

"Man, I can't believe its been three years since we last saw each other."

Zuko's smile drops slightly, but Jia can notice it. He looks away, feeling as though his sudden mood will effect her. "Yeah well, believe me when I say its felt a lot longer for me."

"I can imagine."

"No you really can't." Zuko says harshly.

Jia doesn't take it to heart, she knows that he's been through a difficult time. Still, it does sting when he says that. Zuko immediately scolds himself for say it so harshly. He didn't mean to sour their mood and he most definitely didn't want to upset Jia. He considered her a dear friend. The last thing he would want to do is alienate yet another friend.

"I'm sorry. Its just that, I don't really want to talk about my banishment."

"I understand. Its a very touchy subject."

"Its not just that. Its just-" He pauses trying to find the right words. They pass through a large, intersecting hallway with a stone statue of an ostrich horse in the center. They climb up the stairs.

"I just hate it. I hate having been banished from my home. I hate having to chase around someone who went missing one hundred years ago. I hate being reminded of my failures everywhere I go."

"Are you talking about the Avatar?"

Zuko makes an irritated sound. Just mentioning him makes eye twitch. Upon reaching the top to a T-Intersection they turn left and continue down the hall.

"Yeah." Zuko answers bitterly. Jia nods.

"Is it true he's just a kid? Like a, _kid_ kid?"

They finally stop and rest on balcony standing over the main courtyard.

Zuko groans in annoyance. "Yeah. Eleven or twelve give or take. And he still managed to escape me." He says leaning over the railing.

Jia walks up beside him. "Well, he _is_ the last air bender. No one has faced an air bender in a hundred years. I doubt anyone would've been a match for him." She said.

"Thats not the point. I'm supposed to capture him and bring him back to the Fire Nation. It's the only way I can redeem myself and have my honor restored." Zuko takes a breath and then sighs. "Its the only way my father will welcome me back. And not see me as a failure."

Jia isn't sure what to see. Her heart feels heavy after all he's said to her, and she feels ashamed that she's unable to relieve him of such burdens. She places a hand on his forearm. Zuko turns to face her.

"At least your not alone." She states. "Your not alone Zuko. You've got your uncle. And Lori. And you have me too." She says as she slowly reaches to hold his hand.

The moment is interrupted when they hear boisterous laughter down below. When they look down to see the source of the sound, they see General Iroh by the buffet table and laughing with a group of soldiers. Not officers. Soldiers. They seemed to be having a great time despite the looks of disappointment coming from the other guests. It seemed odd how he envied his uncle's joy at this very moment. Then again his uncle was a simple man with simple taste. A pot of tea and good company, he'd prefer over all the luxuries in the world.

While he watched his uncle drink tea and laugh a question came to mind as he scanned the area. His uncle was by the buffet table. To the north was Jee and Three-Finger-Fin talking with a couple other lower ranking officers, hopefully gathering some information. After a quick search he spotted Yao on stage playing some rendition on the pipa, his fingers as fast as lightening on the string instrument all while having a stone cold expression on his face.

"I swear he's not even human." Zuko states as he watches the man play the pipa. He swears that the strings start smoking. However his thoughts return the question he first had. Where was Lori?

He starts throughly scanning the courtyard searching for his bodyguard. In the sea of red and crimson, he's hoping the find a spec of black, but there wasn't any. Not a single speck of black and white anywhere. He lifts himself up from the railing, checking and checking the area for any sign of her.

"Is something wrong?" Jia asks noticing Zuko's sudden going tense.

"Lori."

"Yes?"

"She went off with my uncle when we first got here." Zuko says.

Jia begins her scan of the courtyard as well but doesn't recognize anyone as Lori. "I'm not seeing her anywhere."

"Yeah thats what worries me." He says as he pushes himself off the railing and crosses his arms.

"Haven't you been training her in swordsmanship. I'd imagine she'd be alright."

"Thats not what I'm worried about." He says as he turns around and walks down the hall, beginning his for his missing bodyguard. This wasn't part of the plan. "She's quick to anger, and I'm worried she might've gotten pissed off by the wrong person."

Jia quickly backs off the railing and follows Zuko down the hall. "You don't really think thats the case do you? Doesn't seem like her to just get into fights with others."

"A lot has changed over the years." Zuko simply states.

Jia matches his speed to walk beside him. "Then tell me about it. Tell me whats happened in the past three years."

* * *

"Where is he?" Lori asked herself as she walked down the hall toward where the party was.

Iroh had left her and Su so that she could be given the privacy to dress. She had a near panic attack when she ran into the hidden door situation again but Su manage to save her form punching more holes into the wall by effortlessly find the hidden door. Since then they've been walking down hall after hall looking for Zuko. They had a plan that didn't involve splitting up, and yet that was the first thing that happened.

"I believe the General might have gone over to join the gala." Su said hoping that was the right answer. She hesitated for a moment, hoping that what she was about to say next wasn't going to break their already fragile partnership. "Would it be rude of me to imagine he made his way over to the buffet?"

They turned a corner just as two guards did the same now patrolling the hall from which they came from. Lori noticed how they leered at her as they passed by them. However she didn't notice that their gazes stayed on her as they walked down the hall. Ever since she changed out of her armor she had gotten all sorts of strange looks from passers by. It made her uncomfortable. She hated having to wear this dress.

"I'm not talking about my uncle, I'm talking about Zuko. Splitting up wasn't part of the plan."

Su nodded in understanding, however Lori didn't see it. "I thought splitting up was part of the plan. So that we could all gather information from different sources."

"Yeah, but Zuko wasn't supposed to go on his own. We were supposed to split into pairs. Jee and Yao, You and Uncle, and me and Zuko. Not only does this make things more difficult, with Zuko being separated, but its also a breach of protocol. He's not supposed to be alone in hostile territory."

"But, this town is now under the control of the Fire Nation. If anything, it would be a safe place for someone such as the Prince. At the very least the security should put you at ease."

"By hostile I meant Zhao. So long as we're on his turf, we're in hostile territory." Lori rolled her eyes at Su's suggestion. "And besides, do you really think its safe here? For us?" She referred to herself the crew of the ship.

"The Fire Nation took over this once free, Earth Kingdom town. Do you really think the people aren't harboring any anger against their, _new masters_. Do you really not think some of them aren't plotting some kind of attack? Because this party seems like the perfect target for an attack."

Su looked to where she could hear the music and the idle chatter of the many guests. She believed for every one Fire Nation citizen there were at least three who could fight. So if there _were_ to be an attack, then they would be just fine. At least she hopped. "I imagine there are many people here who are capable ."

Lori scoffs at Su's suggestion. Of course she doesn't understand how things work where they come from. "Thats not the point! _I'm_ his bodyguard! _I'm_ supposed to be by his side and protecting him! _I'm_ supposed to be with him where ever he goes! Thats how its always been!"

"Perhaps he too joined the gala? Which would mean he's in the courtyard along with everyone else." Su suggested.

Lori scoffs and continues walking down the hall. The last thing she wanted to do is go out there with all the Fire Nation officers and nobles that she couldn't stand. All of them were so arrogant, thinking so highly of themselves and ignorant of the people around them. She didn't want to be anywhere near them if she didn't have to.

"I will not go out there." Lori stated.

"Why not?" Su asked.

Lori stopped and Su did as well. Lori turned around and nearly shouted in Su's face. "Why do you think!? I'm WATER TRIBE!"

Lori scoffed and faced away from Su, crossing her arms and muttering to herself. "Uncle would sometimes have me attend high society events like these with him." Lori continued. "I know everything there is to know about high society, I couldn't stand being there. Everyone was always looking down on me because of who I was."

They walked further down the hall and turned a corner. They walked past the glass doors which led to a long, outdoor balcony overlooking the courtyard where the party took place. Lori stopped and watched the partygoers down below, all of them eating, drinking, and laughing amongst themselves without a care in the world. She barely noticed that Su stopped right beside her, but she didn't much care.

She finally managed to spot her elder drinking and laughing with a couple of ordinary soldiers much to the dismay to the other patrons. Lori smirked to herself, happy that her elder was enjoying himself, but mostly that the other stuck-up nobles were annoyed by his loud jovial laughter. _At least one of us is enjoying the party._ She sighed and rested her arms on the railing. She scanned the area but couldn't find her Prince anywhere. She grew more worried. _Where are you Zuko?_

"You wouldn't by chance happen to see Prince Zuko would you? Lori asked.

Su was caught off guard by the question but did a quick scan of the area, albeit not as thorough as Lori. "I'm sorry I don't. Nor do I see the General."

Lori raised an eyebrow at her. "He's right there. How do you not see him?" She said and pointed in the direction of the jovial laughter.

Upon seeing Iroh, Su felt embarrassed for not noticing him in the crowd. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't notice."

Lori sighed once again. Having Su by her side would just be a waste of time and she would only slow her down. It would be best if she continued her part of the mission on her own. Or at least until she could regroup with Zuko. She hoped.

"Su, why don't you just head down there with my uncle." Lori suggested which left Su slightly surprised.

"B, but why? Why do you want me to leave?" Su suggested. "If what you said, about _hostile territory_ , is true I'd rather not leave you alone."

Lori narrowed her eyes at the older girl. She pushed herself off the railing and crossed her arms. "And what would you do?" She asked. "If we got ambushed right now what would you do?"

Su nearly cowered at the idea, knowing full well if that happened she would cower behind the younger teen, after all she was the one with the weapons. Nevertheless, Su kept a determined expression and raised her fists in front of her. She was determined to not cower under Lori's scrutinizing stare.

"You might not believe me, but I can raise some hell if I have too." She tried to convince the younger teen who she was sure had seen more battles in her short fourteen years, then _she_ would see in the rest of her lifetime. She was also half-trying to convince herself. She had never been in a real fight. She was never much of a fighter to begin with.

Lori raised her eyebrow and taking a minute to look at Su's pathetic posture. She could come with a least five different ways to take her down in less then a minute. "You know what, you're right; I don't believe you."

"I'm serious Lori." Su, once again tried to put up a brave face. "If need be, I could handle myself in a fight."

Lori dropped her arms and came out of her relaxed stance which made Su nervous. "Hit me."

Su's entire facade dropped when she heard those words. "Wh, what?"

"You heard me, hit me!" Lori repeated, this time more so like an order.

Su tensed, but raised her fists once again and took a pseudo fighting stance. She mentally prepared for what ever Lori would do to her for _when_ she felt failed in her attack. Even so, she tried thinking of a way to be able to actually land a hit on her. She believed if she could land one, it would be worth whatever hurt Lori would give her, and maybe, just maybe, she'd get some respect from this girl. She physically and mentally prepared herself for her attack on Lori, and then for her inevitable and painful retaliation. She revved up her fist, ready to strike the girl down, and hoping her attack would be fast enough to reach her instead of hard enough to hurt Lori. Not wanting to hurt Lori wasn't the issue, she just wanted to actually land a hit on her.

Su took a deep breath and threw her fist at Lori's face. It never landed. It didn't come close. Lori had caught her wrist before it even entered her personal space, and she was giving it quite the squeeze. Not only was she squeezing her wrist, but she also felt an uncomfortable ache in her belly. She looked down to see Lori had two of her fingers at her belly. If she had a knife in hand, she'd be dead. She looked back up to Lori and tried to pull away from Lori, but Lori just squeezed a little bit tighter. Su whimpered in pain as she surrendered to Lori's mercy.

"That was pathetic." Lori said as she finally let Su go.

Su took a step back and massaged her wrist. "I know." She replied pathetically, but she began to brighten when an idea came to mind. "Teach me!"

Lori looked surprised when she said that. "What?"

"Teach me how to fight!" She said excitedly. "I haven't been traveling with you for that long, but I've seen you train with Prince Zuko. I know how great a fighter you are! Teach me!"

Lori just stared at her as though she had lost her mind. She reached up to her temple and shook her head in an annoyed manner. "Su I don't have time to teach you anything. We're kinda have an important mission on our hands, and thats capturing the Avatar. I don't have time to teach you anything. And plus, you not in the best shape for fighting."

Su looked hurt at hearing that even though she knew it was true. "I can do better. I can get stronger. I'll get in better shape. I know I can."

Lori ended her plea. "This is not for discussion. Now go down with my uncle. I need to be alone for a while. If any guards give you trouble, drop my name and rank."

Su was disappointed but didn't argue. She turned around to make her way back the way they came from so she could rejoin the General. "Okay then. But please, think about." She pleaded before walking away.

Now left alone, Lori turned back to the crowd below watching all of the guests enjoying the fine food and fine drinks this little town had to offer, as well as whatever food and drink they brought from their homeland. She looked back to the small gathering of her elder and the soldiers he was with. They were having fun. She continued scanning the crowd with worry on her face. _Where are you Zuko?_

Someone started walking past her, but then stopped right behind her. She could tell whoever they were was staring at her. She rolled her eyes and tried to ignore them.

"Excuse me, do I know you?" A male voiced asked her. He sounded young.

Lori didn't bother looking at him. "I doubt it. Now please, I'd like to be left alone." She stated as calmly as she could.

"No no, yeah, I do. I do know you!" He said excitedly.

Lori sighed, although she had to admit, whoever this stranger was, he did sound familiar. "I'm sorry, but I don't feel like talking to anyone at this moment."

The young man scoffed in disbelief. "The least you could do is say _hi_. I mean we did feed turtle ducks, and to you, thats like some, scared ritual or something." He said more confidently.

Lori's eyes widened at the recognition. There were only a select few individuals she fed turtle ducks with and that list had only gotten smaller since she first discovered the little critters. She stood up and finally turned around to see the grin on her old friends face. "Jian?" She remembered the boys name. "Jian! How are you?"

The boy smiled and held his arms out. "Its good to see you Lori." He said as he approached her for a hug. She accepted the hug, her entire demeanor doing a one-eighty. "I'm doing great. Hoe have you been?"

She was happy to see her old friend. She pulled away from the hug and scoffed. "I've been better. What are you doing here?"

"I'm here because my old man was invited to this gala." Jian responded.

Lori nodded. "Ah, Colonel Shinu. I didn't even know he was here."

"He's with some of other high ranking officers in one of the other rooms." He said. "There having their own little private meeting I guess."

Lori rolled her eyes remembering when she was nearly trapped in one of the secret rooms. "Yeah, I bet he's doing some serious ass kissing while in there hoping to get a seat on the war council."

Jian pointed a finger at her. "Hey! If thats what it takes to make it to high admiral, then so be it. Just a long as his lips don't get so chapped."

"Because chapped lips is what makes it weird." Lori joked and the two laughed at their dumb joke.

As the two continued their laughing Lori could feel slight relief after everything thats happened today. First losing the Avatar, then not finding any leads, having to come to this stupid party, having to where this stupid dress, losing Zuko in the party, it was nice to laugh for once.

The two finally managed to settle down from their laughter but the smiles remained. "Man, its been awhile since we last saw each other." Jian said.

"Not since you finished your apprenticeship with my uncle." Lori added.

The two first met when Jian began to study military tactics under General Iroh, around the same time Zuko had left to Master Piando's castle to finish his training and become a master swordsman. Having no one else to talk to, she started conversing with the boy who followed her uncle around and the two became great friends. He was only a year older then her so its not like he was too old to play games. Iroh never minded.

"How's your uncle been?" He asked.

Lori pointed to down below where she had last seen the old retired general. "As you can see, he's doing well."

"You look great by the way. I don't think I've ever seen you in a dress before."

Lori scoffed. "Yeah well, thats because I don't wear dresses. They're not really my thing." She said as she brushed some of her hair back.

"Yeah, but you still look great. I mean wow." He commented not able to keep his eyes off her.

He was still starring at her in awe of her appearance, eyeing her up and down. He once remembered her as a fun loving, care free kid who had a bit of an obsession for the turtle ducks. Seeing her know, she had really grown since the last time he saw her, and in more ways then one. He had seen his fair share of girls in his time, but seeing Lori here before him, she was more beautiful then any of them. But then again he did have a bias, considering his crush on her.

He had yet to take his eyes off her, and it didn't take long for her to notice. She saw herself in the mirror, so she knew she looked, 'different', however she didn't expect it would cause this kind of reaction. It really weirded her out. She narrowed her eyes at him and felt the sudden urge to cover her breasts with her arms but she pushed it aside and instead snapped her fingers in his face to snap him out of his daze.

"Hey!" She said. "Quit perving out."

Jian returned to his sense quickly looked away. He rubbed the back of his neck as he felt his face heat up from embarrassment. He didn't mean to stare as much as he did. He really didn't. "I, I I wasn't stare, I wasn't-" He sputtered out words.

"You weren't just gawking at me!?" She scrutinized with a raised eyebrow and with her arms crossed.

"I, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to. It's just that you're..." His tongue was tied as he tried to come up with a word that wouldn't get him punched in the face. He didn't try and meet her scrutinizing gaze "... you're really, really pretty." He gave a nervous chuckle.

Lori kept looking at him she suddenly had to look away from him. She didn't want him to see the slight blush she had. She wasn't sure if he could even see it, but she was sure it was there and she wasn't going to risk it. "Thanks. I guess."

"Um, your welcome." he said nervously laughing again.

The silence continued to build, turning a nice, happy reunion of two old friends into a very awkward moment. She looked back at him and she had to admit, he had become more handsome since the last time she saw him, but she was never going to say that out loud.

Finally she decided to end the awkward moment, the only way she knew how, she hit him into the chest were his armor would protect him. "Ow!" He was pushed back by the sudden attack and looked up at her in shock. "What was that for!?"

"That was for perving out on me!" She said with a cocky attitude.

"I wasn't perving out on you!" His voice cracked as he tried to defend himself from the accusation. He noticed and clear his throat before trying to recover and trying to sound more mature. "I was just, uh, just admiring how much _you_ , my good friend, had grown and matured since the last time I saw you."

"Uh huh." She said with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm serious." He defended before he gave a Fire Nation salute. "Fire Nations soldiers honor."

"Well I really appreciate that you think me growing breasts shows you how much I've 'grown' and 'matured' over the years." She said in a sardonic tone.

"Hey I didn't say anything about your breasts." He said pointing a wimpy finger at her. His face grew hot at the mention of her womanly parts and while a cocky grin grew on her face. "Your putting words in my mouth."

Lori snorted a chuckle. "Yeah. And I beat theres other things you'd like me to put in your mouth." Her eyes grew wide as a single loud laugh escaped her mouth. She tried to cover her mouth to prevent anymore laughter. She looked back up to Jian who seemed both disturbed, confused and looking like he wanted to laugh. She tried to stand straight but she doubled over trying to hold in the laugh.

"What the hell?" He question as a chuckle escaped from his mouth. Lori looked like she was going to lose and could see tears building in her eyes from holding in such laughter. "What are you implying?"

Lori looked up to him still with her hands to her mouth. When she spoke, her words were combined with laughter. "I don't know. It sounded much funnier before I said it out loud." more laughs escaped that she couldn't hold in.

Jian started laughing out loud too, unable to hold them in. The laughing hurt his insides, he had to hold onto the railing to keep himself standing.

"i don't even know what to say to that." He managed to voice before continuing to laugh.

After a few more minutes of laughter the two young teens finally managed to settled down but the smiles remained on their faces. They looked at each other with a shared sense of gratitude that the awkwardness had finally passed.

"Well now, that went exactly as planned." Jian joked.

"Uh huh. I hope for the sake of your bloodline that you don't greet your other lady friends. the same way." She mocked and then tried to stand up straight and tilted her gaze downward. Jian caught on real quick that she was impersonating him as if he were starring at a girls breasts. " _Great to see you. My how you've, 'grown' and, 'matured' since I last saw you_."

Jian started laughing again as she did. "I do not do that." He defended himself.

Lori relaxed and returned her gaze to him. "Yes you do."

"Only to you because your special." He tried to joke, not realizing the implications of such a statement.

"That sounds worse!" Lori laughed.

It took a minuted for Jian to understand. "No no no! Thats not what meant! Shit!" He tried to reason but they both only laughed harder. "Thats not it! Damn it! You did this to me! You created this monster!"

The two continued laughing for a shorter time and finally managed to calm down. Despite the awkwardness, Lori was grateful for this. She hadn't laughed this much in such a long time.

Jian finally composed himself enough to get out one final statement. "Okay look, I am not a perv, and I don't stare at girls creepily."

Lori nodded. "Okay you don't. Just me." She tried again, but Jian wasn't having it.

"No! Stop it! I don't. Especially not you."

"Because I can kick your ass."

Jian took a moment before pointing a finger at her. "Yes. Thats one reason why. And please stop it we're not doing this again."

Lori rolled her eyes but obliged. "Okay fine, I'm sorry."

"Thank you." Jian said giving a sigh of relief. "So anyway, how have you been? Hows my friend been these past few years?"

Lori scoffed as she crossed her arms. "Busy. Really busy. And exhausted."

Jian took a step closer to her. "Come on. I can't imagine it must be that difficult, just sailing around the world with Prince Zuko and taking in all the sights."

"You make it sound like we're on vacation and not on a hunt." Lori said annoyed. "And we're not just taking in the sights. Everyday we're having to plot courses, we're training, planning, investigating last known locations, questioning the locals, all in the hopes that we can catch up to the Avatar."

"Right." Jian said almost uncomfortably. "The Avatar."

Lori had an angry scowl on her face. "Yeah. That son of a bitch, has been a thorn in our side since the South Pole." She said as she started walking off as though she were on a hunt.

Jian quickly followed. "Hey wait! You went back to the South Pole?" He questioned.

Lori looked to him with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah. Thats where we found the Avatar. Didn't you read the report?"

Jian rubbed the back of his neck. "I uh, kinda skimmed over it." He said embarrassed. Lori rolled her eyes. "But is he really just a kid? The Avatar?"

Lori sighed disappointedly. "Yes. He's like eleven or twelve or something."

Jian was taken aback by this. He did read that part in other reports, that the Avatar was just a child but it was still unbelievable. "Man I can't believe that he's just kid."

"Don't remind me."

"I'm sorry. Its just jarring to me." The news really struck him, however seeing the look on Lori's face made him change the topic. Although this might be something difficult for her to answer as well.

"Well since you were in the South Pole, did you ever see you family?" He asked which caught Lori off guard. "You _are_ from the South Pole right?"

Lori remained silent, but she felt angry. Her family. _They_ were the reason they still searching for the Avatar. If they hadn't gotten involved they would've made it back to the Fire Nation by now. The thought of Katara and Sokka made her clench her fists, but her thoughts then went to the day they first arrived at the village.

Sokka had attacked them, being the only able man in the village (and that was putting it lightly), and Katara was with their Grandmother. But where was her mother. Out of all the faces she saw that day, not one looked like her mothers. She still wondered if maybe she just didn't recognize her or maybe she just so happened to be away that day. Perhaps she was visiting one of the other villages. For a second she humored the idea that maybe her mother left to rescue her so many years ago.

"No." Lori answered. "We didn't see them."

Jian was actually surprised. "Really? But I thought, you know, you _are_ from the South pole and..."

Lori interrupted and continued the lie. "We didn't go to my village." Lori turned to Jian who had confusion plastered on his face. Before he could ask, she elaborated. "The Southern Water Tribe isn't one big tribe like the Northern Tribe. They're mostly small villages scattered around the South Pole."

Although Jian finally understood, he was still confused by her explanation. Mostly because it didn't make sense to him that they were all separated, instead of being one unified tribe.

"That still doesn't make sense to me though. Wouldn't being, you know, together make them stronger?"

Lori sighed. "You'd think that wouldn't you. The South had many struggles over the years probably even before any of us were born."

Jian nodded. "Maybe. So what happened after you left the South Pole. I heard you had a run in with Zhao."

Lori raised her eyebrow. "Where did you here that?"

"I have a buddy who was stationed at that Earth Kingdom harbor. He sent me a message saying that one day Prince Zuko arrived for repairs."

Lori sighed once again. "So you heard about that?"

Jian smiled. "Yeah. But I wanna hear it from you." He said which made Lori roll her eyes. "What kinda trouble did you guys get into?"

Lori gave a soft giggle. "Well where to begin..."

* * *

"I still can't believe you nearly burned down Kyoshi Island?" Jia said as she walked along side Zuko.

"It wasn't my intention, but I did warn them what would happen if they fought us." Zuko said then stopped to turn to Jia to add to his point. "And to be fair, they attacked us first."

He said before turning back in the direction he was going. Jia followed behind him. They had made searched most of the second floor but couldn't fine any sign of Lori, much to Zuko's annoyance. He didn't understand how a fourteen year old Water Tribe girl in unique black with white trim armor didn't stand out in a sea of Fire Nation red. They searched all over but he couldn't find her and he wasn't sure whether to be worried for her the other people here. There was also Zhao, but there no way in hell he'd ever be worried for Zhao.

"I mean, you still didn't have to burn the village down. Were there even any Earth Benders?"

Zuko sighed, remembering the fight that occurred on the island very vividly. "No. But that didn't mean they couldn't put up a fight." He said, rubbing what Jia noticed to be a faint bruise on his neck.

"Oh so thats what it was. I just thought you were playing a little ruff with a, certain lady friend." Jia joked with a knowing smirk.

Zuko's eyes went wide when she said that and felt the heat rising in his cheeks. "What!? No shut up!" He exclaimed while Jia giggled from his embarrassment.

"You know what your right, I'm sorry. It's not like you can get much _fun_ in the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom Colonies anyway."

Zuko grunted annoyed and turned away from. "Why do you always feel the need to tease me!?" He complained.

Jia stopped giggling but kept the smile as she walked around him so she could face him. "Because Its fun, and you know you like it." She simply explained.

Her smile slowly began to disappear when she saw he was genuinely upset. She reached out to him, touching his arm. "Zuko I didn't mean anything. You know I was just playing."

Zuko huffed a sigh and looked up to face her and saw the sad look on her face. "I know. Its not you." He said as he turned around, to face the party crowd down below.

He felt a bitter sense rising in him seeing all these people, so arrogant and pompous because of their status or lineage. He despised them all. Why did they get to enjoy their luxuries and return home while he was forced out of his home and ostracized for by the very people who were supposed to love and cherish him. They all disgusted him, with their snobby and self-important attitudes, flaunting their new clothes and jewelry and wealth.

The irony of it all was he wasn't blind to his own hypocrisy because he wanted nothing more in the world to just return home to his lavish life style or being a prince where his only concern was Fire Bending and deciding what he wanted the chef's to cook for that evening. And of course making sure Lori stayed out of trouble. He missed the days of living in Royal Palace with servants at his beck and call and with no other responsibilities other then his training and learning to be a good future Fire Lord. It was a boring and eventful life, but he had Lori to make things interesting. The one person who was always at his side, long before his banishment. He wondered just how much longer she would remain at his side.

"You still in there?" Jia's voice pulled his from his thoughts. "You seemed to be in deep thought."

He hadn't even realized he had spaced out and was resting against the railing. Jia was close next to him with her arm around his. "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking."

Jia tilted her head. "About what?"

"How much I wish I had taken my uncle's advice seriously and kept my mouth shut." He said with a saddened and longing expression. Jia looked at him with such a surprised look on her face. "If I hadn't spoken out of turn during that war meeting then I wouldn't be out here, I'd still be back home. Instead I'm banished and have to take on an impossible task while everyone mocks and laughs at me. I just feel powerless to do anything."

Jia's heart ached seeing him like this. He looked so tired and defeated. This wasn't the Zuko she knew. He was only sixteen and yet he looked like an old man whose years had worn him down. She wished there was something she could've done to help him.

Jia rested her head on his shoulder as they watched the crowed below. She hoped this little sign of affection could help his aching heart. "I wish I could just come back home." She heard him say as she felt him rest his head on hers.

"So do I."

They remained together in silence for a short moment. They didn't want this quiet moment between them to end. The banter of the crowd below and the music that played seemed to bring them both at ease, but very quickly Jia's composer began to falter as that fateful day came to mind.

She was there in the crowd the day of the Agni Kai. Her father forbade her from going, but she snuck in anyway to see. The second she recognized his opponent as the Fire Lord was the moment she had lost all hope. Seeing Zuko on the ground pleading for mercy made her heart sink as tears fell from her eyes. She squeezed Zuko's arm, remembering the cries for mercy and pain.

"Whats wrong?" She heard him ask as he placed his hand over hers. "Are you okay?"

She pulled away from him. She turned to in his direction but she didn't look at him. "I'm sorry. Its just... I was there when it happened."

Zuko seemed confused for a moment, but when she looked up to look him in the eyes, at his scar, he realized what she meant. "I was there, and I couldn't do anything."

"Jia there was nothing you _could_ have done." Zuko tried to comfort her placing an arm on her shoulder. "There wasn't anything anyone could have done."

Jia sighed knowing he was speaking the truth. An Agni Kai was a sacred duel for honor. And she wasn't a Fire Bender but that was beside the point. She still hated herself for not trying to help in some way, anything to have prevent all of this.

"I know. But I still feel guilty. I just sat there and watched you get burned like it was a show." She lifted her hand and slowly reached out to him. "I wish I could've done something. Anything to save you from this." She said as she reached out to touch his scar.

She heard so many people mention his scar before. They all sounded disgusted by it, and mocked him for it, but she didn't see it that way. She wanted to show him that it didn't bother her, and wanted to make him feel loved. Before she made contact however, Zuko stopped her by catching her hand.

"Please don't." Zuko asked of her gently.

Jia's surprise past as she then pulled her hand back when Zuko let go. She looked away from him not wanting to meet his gaze even though she knew he wasn't angry or upset with her. "I'm sorry."

"Its okay." Zuko said and reached up to touch his scar. "Its just, somethings are still hard to deal with."

She understood. But still, she hoped he didn't think she was trying to mock him in some way. "I understand." She looked up to meet his gaze again. "But it doesn't mean anything to me. Your still the same prince to me, no matter what these people or the Fire Lord say."

Their moment was interrupted when a guard approached them. For a second Zuko thought it was meant for him but he was wrong. "Miss Jia, Colonel Shinu has asked for you."

Jia gave a disappointed sigh. She didn't want to leave Zuko, and she definitely didn't want to go back to her father. "Okay. I'll be right there."

"He says its urgent you meet with him at once." The guard pressed.

Jia turned back to the guard. "I said, I'll be right there!" She snapped at the guard who was pestering her. He gave a bow and walked off.

Jia sighed and turned back to Zuko. "I'm sorry, I have to go."

"I understand."

"Can we talk later?"

"Of course." He said offering a smile.

She didn't return the smile. She took one step in the direction the guard went but then quickly turned back to Zuko and kissed him. She had been wanting to kiss him for a very long time ever since the day of the Agni Kai, but she just never got the chance. The day she heard of his recovery was the same day she heard he was banished and had left for his quest to hunt down the Avatar. She regretted not saying anything sooner.

Zuko was left stunned from this. Jia, his good friend, had kissed him. When she pulled away from him, he was left in shock. He had never been kissed like this before. The look on her face when she pulled back seemed to say so much and yet so little about what the kiss meant. He didn't know what to say or do, but she had already turned around and left without saying another word.

* * *

"Wait so you guys burned down Kyoshi Island?" Jian asked.

"We might have lit a few homes on fire which ended up spreading wildfires, but that wasn't our fault." Lori defended. "Besides, the Avatar used the Unagi to put out the fires."

Jian was left confused. "What the hell is an Unagi?"

"Some giant eel-like sea-creature that can shoot water from its mouth." She answered.

"Were there any cute girls on Kyoshi." He asked.

Lori smirked. "None of them were your type."

Jian scoffed. "How would you know? You don't know my type."

"Let me rephrase it then. _You_ aren't any of their type."

"Wow. Harsh."

They stopped once again. Lori rested against the railing and watched the crowd down below. She still couldn't stop wondering where Zuko was, but it was in her nature to worry for him. She gave a deep sigh.

"You look tired." Jian said leaning against the railing beside her.

Lori rolled her eyes. "I thought we already established its because I am."

"Okay then. Well why are you tired?" He asked.

Lori looked at turned to him and then back to the crowd below. "I'm tired of this mission. I'm tired of having to chase the Avatar to who knows where. And I'm sick and tired of other peoples bullshit!"

Jian's eyes went wide at her snapping, but didn't interrupt as Lori continued her rant. "Everywhere we go, all we ever hear from people is how much of a failure we are. We're trying are damnedest to find the Avatar, we've worn ourselves down to the bone, and all anyone ever does is mock us!"

Lori's eyes narrowed down at the people below, as though their mere presence disgusted her, although Jian could imagine that thats how the people down there looked at her. He had seen those looks before along time ago. And it was clear she wasn't oblivious to them.

" _Disgraced, b_ _anished prince_." She repeated with such venom. "Kiss my ass! I don't care what they say about me, but they have no right to talk about Zuko like that."

There it was. Jian realized that her anger was more so because of what everyone said about Zuko. He had heard all of those things, all of the insults and the rumors. He understood why Lori would get so upset.

"You seem to care for him a lot don't you." Jian said.

Lori wondered what he was trying to get at, for moment, she almost mistook him for one one of the snobby officers who only ever pestered them. "Of course. I'm his bodyguard, kinda comes with the job."

"Thats not what I meant." Lori looked at him in confusion wondering what exactly he was implying, but he didn't seem malicious. He just seemed like a concerned friend. "You really care for him don't you?"

Lori remained silent for a moment, the pause seeming to answer the question for him. He wasn't sure whether to be upset or not by that fact. "Of course. He's my best friend. And I know he cares about me too."

Jian nodded. He had heard a thing or two about Prince Zuko and Lori's trials over the years. The one thing that always stood out to him was that they were always together. And in a situation such as theirs, it was good to be with someone you could trust.

"I'm sure he does." Lori looked at him with a raised eyebrow, unsure what he was implying. "Its good that you have someone who cares about you to watch your back. I bet when you fought those Kyoshi warriors you had them on the ropes."

Lori snort a laugh. "Yeah I suppose."

Jian rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly unsure as to how to proceed. "Look Lori." She turned to him. "I get that you feel like you guys are alone, and that the whole world is against you, but thats not true."

She looked up to see the sincere look on his face. He lifted his hand and hesitated on where to place it before he placed it on her shoulder. "Not everyone in the world hates you. You've got people who care about you."

Lori found his words comforting but it didn't really help how she felt. She had never seen those people. "That easy for you to say. Your Fire Nation. These are your people. No matter what my uncle or Zuko say or do, I'm still an outsider, a freak. I'm still water tribe."

"Its never bothered me." he said as he gave her shoulder a squeeze. Realizing what he had said and done. He pulled his hand away and rubbed the back of his neck as he felt heat rise in his cheeks. "Um, and I bet its never bothered General Iroh, and Zuko, and that one lady who was always around you in the Royal Palace."

At the mention Lori suddenly felt sad. She missed Mei Lein. It had been so long since she last heard from her. "I appreciate it Jian, I do. You're a good friend, but not everyone shares your opinion. In my experience your either one of them or-" She pointed to the crowd below. "-your nothing. And thats exactly what I am to them, nothing."

Jian was saddened by her words. He at least hope she didn't think he agreed with that sentiment. Before he could voice his opinion a guard approached them asking for him. "Sir, Colonel Shinu has asked for you to return."

Jian gave a sigh before turning to the guard. He really didn't want to go back to his father. "Alright fine. I'll be right there. Just give me a second."

"Colonel Shinu says its urgent." The guard implored.

"I said _give me a second_. Jeez get off my ass!" He argued. The guard finally gave a bow, turned around and left

Jian turned back to Lori with a disappointed look. He opened his mouth to say something but the right words just couldn't form.

"You should go." Lori said much to the Jian's disappointment. "You don't want to keep your dd waiting."

Jian closed his mouth and gave a nod. He turned around and started walking away but stopped and turned back to her to give his last words. "Just so you know you always be something to me." He said smile before turning back and following the guard.

Lori watched him disappear before turning back to watch the crowd below. She once again found her elder along with Su amongst the crowd. They seemed to be having a good time. _Good for them_. She thought to herself. At least they were enjoying themselves. She still wondered where Zuko was. She hadn't seen him all day and she worried. She wouldn't be able to think straight or come up with a plan if she didn't know if he was okay or not. Then she found him.

She looked up to see what was across from. Her eyes widened in recognition. Across from her at another balcony was Zuko. He was with some woman. Lori's eyes narrowed as she maneuvered to get a better look. Once she got a better, look she saw that the person Zuko was with wasn't a woman, but Jia, Jian's older sister. Lori cringed when she saw her. Questioned began to swim through her mind. _What was she doing here? Why was she here? Why was she with Zuko?_ But above all else the question raised. _What the hell has Zuko been doing this entire time?_

And then it happened. She was just about to march over there when she saw Jia force herself on him and kiss him. Lori's went wide. Seeing Jia kissing her best friend made her grip on the railing tighten even more till her knuckles turned white. Jia finally pulled away from Zuko. The kiss only lasted maybe four seconds, but to Lori, seeing it seemed to last hours. Her eyes narrowed in anger. Here she was worrying about his well being and there he was making out with some tramp.

When Jia finally walked off leaving Zuko alone, but Lori still remained in her spot. _You could have told me you were going off to make out with your little girlfriend Zuko!_ She thought to herself. She was so angry about what had just transpired she didn't even realize that someone was now standing behind her.

"Well well, I hope you've been enjoying yourself." She recognized Commander Zhao's voice immediately.

She pushed down the need to vomit. First seeing Jia kiss Zuko and now this. She didn't bother coming up with a response.

"Its a wonderful sight isn't it?" He asked looking down at the crowd pf partygoers celebrating. "You should be honored to among such nobility. Not everyone is as fortunate as you." Lori rolled her eyes.

"If I may ask, I would very much liked to discus things with you in private. Pertaining to your hunt for the Avatar of course." He asked.

Lori closed her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was be alone in a room with Zhao. However she couldn't ignore the fact that this could be a good opportunity for her. Maybe she could learn what his plans were after all this was over. And whatever intel he had on the Avatar.

She stepped back from the railing and turned to face Zhao who always held a cocky smirk on his face. "Lead the way."


End file.
